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A&E
’Seagull’talks about /¡Ê what matters
WedNEsdAy, J anuary 50, 2002
ELISABETH MEYER
Staff Writer
Anton Chekov wrote more
plays than I can count, but he
wrote at least one, in any case,
and that’s what matters right
now. All we need to know at
this point is this single play,
“The Seagull,” does in fact ex
ist, is in fact playing at Port
land Center Stage, and is in fact
well worth your time.
It’s the story of artists strug
gling with issues of talent,
originality and fame. Arkadina
(Joan Macintosh), the actress
mother, her lover Tregorin
(Scott Coopwood), a famous
writer, and her playwright son
Konstanin (Michael Newcomber)
are spending their summer in
the country. Konstanin’s
sweetheart Nina (Christine
Calfas), a country girl and as
piring actress, is attracted to
the fame of Arkadina and
Tregorin.
This is one of those things
you tell your friends you really
enjoyed, you tell them what it
was about, and they nod and
change the subject. The plot
isn’t overly intriguing, and no
particular character dominates
the action. And once you learn
the central figures play ac
tresses and playwrights who
spend a good deal of the play
talking about new art forms,
you’re expecting a self-indul
gent introspectionfest.
It’s hard to say whom the
play is about. There are so
many Hamlets to deal with! The
characters are so caught up in
themselves, I thought I was
watching a five- or six-ring cir
cus. Any plot action besides
individual characters spinning
in circles involves trying to pull
others into his or her own or
bit, which I find both fascinat
ing and repelling.
I was bothered at first that
none of the characters seemed
able to really connect with an
other. Although all they do is
talk, no real exchange happens.
The
actors
show
this
noncommunication well by
switching from conversation to
conversation quickly and al
ways trying to steal the spot
light for themselves. The sen
sitive Konstantin wants to love
his mother and wants her love,
TM e CI ac I< amas P rìk
but finds her af
fection
to
showy or fake
and
pulls
away.
Tregorin
wants
assur
ance
that he
has talent
but can’t ac
cept compli
ments since he is
constantly flat
tered by admirers.
The childlike Nina
knows her purity is vir
tually her only appeal,
but is dying to sacrifice
it at the altar of fame and
experience.
Chekhov called his play a
comedy. I can only assume
he meant it ironically, because
it is easily one of the softest,
quietest stories I’ve seen on
stage. There were a few obvi
ous laugh lines, and we re
sponded, but I wished we au
dience members could express
our feelings of empathy and
sadness for the characters’ in
ability to simply be.
Party honors pacifist poet
1
*
Would-be actress Nina
(Christine Calfas) acts in her
boyfriend's play, hoping to
demonstrate a new art form
to the world.
jo
Photo by Owen Blair
ar
IL
ALLISON GERFIN
Copy Editor
In The Pentagon one person’s
job is to! take pins out of towns,
hills, andfields,/and then save the
pins for later.
From “Things I Learned Last
Week”
William Stafford couldn’t at
tend this month’s celebration of
his birthday, but the crowd in
Gregory Forum last Thursday,
Jan. 24, was ardently keeping his
memory alive.
Stafford, once Oregon’s Poet
Laureate, died in 1993, but
Friends of William Stafford pro
motes his work and life every
year to honor his Jan. 17, 1914,
birth in Hutchinson, Kan. The
celebration at Clackamas was one
of 22 held in Oregon and Wash
ington this year.
Paulann Petersen, FWS event
coordinator and host, likened
Stafford to another famous Janu
ary birthday man, Martin Luther
King Jr. She said they both be
lieved in the same ideals: paci
fism, human rights, human equal
ity and justice. Stafford was a
conscientious objector during
WWII, and many of his poems
speak of standing by truth, or in
other words, in what one be
lieves.
Some esteemed local poets
took turns at the microphone to
read a favorite poem of Stafford’s
followed by a self-penned poem
inspired by him. CCC faculty
members Kate Gray, Diane Averill
and Jim Grabill, PCC instructor
Tim Barnes and Sunset High
School English teacher Victoria
Wyttenberg all shared their pas
sion for Stafford’s evocative
From start
to finish
Take me back to yesterday
When virgin America was still alive
To the time when the fabric of
Our Livelihood stood tall and mighty
ELISABETH MEYER / Clackamas Print
Left to right: Dorothy Stafford, Kate Gray, Paulann Peterson, and
Derek Sheffield paid tribute to William Stafford last Thursday.
Some attendees read poetry and told stories in remembrance.
phrases and deeply-lived prin
ciples. Then audience members
joined in the party by reading their
personal favorites.
Stafford’s poems obviously
have had a profound effect on
those lucky enough to have dis
covered him, and it was impossible
not to be inspired to read his work
after being in this devoted crowd.
A professor at Lewis and Clark
College for many years, Stafford
was a down-to-earth and unpre
tentious man who liked to tinker
with mechanical contraptions. He
said that if he wasn’t a teacher and
writer he would have owned a bi
cycle shop.
I’ve bullied rusty iron and
made it
remember what td do, and once
on a back road
I put out a fire under the hood
of a car;
but these greasy geniuses have
to conjure
miracles day after day just to
keep going.
From “Fixers”
This prolific poet made a habit
out of writing first thing in the
morning so he would be sure to
get it done every day; he wrote
his last poem the morning of his
last day.
It seems that there was no as
pect of life left untouched by the
common sense of his words. If you
are interested in learning more
about Stafford before next year’s
celebration, find a copy of “The
Way It Is: New and Selected Po
ems” by William Stafford, pub
lished by Gray wolf Press.
Terror took its toll
They've swallowed buildings whole
Lives were lost, souls were not
Their spirit lives in our melting pot.
p
Busting out with tears
I long to help those far and near.
Charities and drives for blood
Our veins are an open flood.
Bin Laden, my note to you, beware
You've only created a scare
United we stand together
America is forever.
By Daisy Bain
P
k
!