Mach rips off old Wallpaper
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STORY AND PHOTO B Y MATT ROWNING
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CCC English chair & playwright Sue Mach has two Portland play productions
“ I have heard that guilty
creatures sitting at a play
have by the very cunning
of the scene been struck so
to the soul that presently
they have proclaim’d their
malefactions;”
-H a m le t, Act 2, Scene 2
for the New City.
While at PSU, Mach took classes from Craig Lesley,
a twice Pulitzer Prize nominated fiction writer and
educator who is now retired.
“ He was probably the person who inspired me to
become a teacher,” said Mach.
She had a double debut in two different
Portland theaters of the plays “ The Lost Boy”
and “ A Noble Failure,” awarding her press
attention and awards for writing.
That double debut foreshadows another one
happening right now.
Her two works that are hitting the stage
right now are “The Yellow Wallpaper”
at C0H0 Productions and “ The Shadow
Testament” here at CCC.
“ The Yellow Wallpaper” is Mach’ s
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Before the stage is set, some exposition should adaptation o f a short story by ;
Charlotte Perkins Gilm an. Known -
illustrate the scene.
Mach’s journey to theater marquees was first paved as a staple of English classrooms
by attending Pacific University for an English degree, everywhere, Mach has co-produced AH
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coming to Portland State for an interim period and the play at C0H0 with filmmaker and f
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finally earning a graduate degree in creative writing actress Grace Carter.
“ The Shadow T estam ent” is
from Boston University. There was some on-the-job
learning though, as Mach said, “ A lot of my theatrical being produced at CCC starring
CCC students and directed by
_
education was just doing it.”
Closer to home is that Mach’s ascent to Portland Jim Eikrem. Eikrem had copious
theater powerhouse began while she was a student at reasons for selecting the play for
Portland State, in between earning her bachelor’s and production at CCC.
“ I liked the structure of it, I liked
master’s. Her first play, “ Monograms,” was a firework
that gained her attention in 1995. “ Monograms” was the subject matter, I liked the fact
produced by now extinguished Portland Rep, and then that it was based on true events
went oh to be produced in New York City at Theater that took place in Oregon in the
early part of the i9OO*s, and I also thought it was really
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4 Clackamas Print JANUARY 27,2016 thalackamasprlnt.com
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,
great to be able to collaborate with one of our faculty
members,” said Eikrem.
The lead in M ach’ s “ The Shadow Testament” is
Joshua Creffield, played by CCC resident actor Sam
Levi. Levi has acted in “ The Shadow Testam ent”
twice, including at its premiere at Performance Works
Northwest.
On performing in Mach’ s work for the second time,
Levi said, “ It’ s so cool to be back and to reflect on the
differences in production, of which there are a lot.”
Levi also suggested that there are unique stressors
from having the playwright in house,
“ Who knows how many hours and sleepless nights
writing the play and here they are watching the play,
you really want to do it justice,” said Levi.
Levi also touched on the themes and plots of Mach’s
work, and said, “ She seems to have this knack and this
eye for historical fiction.” In fact, many of Mach’s plays
could be classified as historical fiction; “ Monograms,”
“The Lost Boy,” “ The Yellow Wallpaper,” and “ The
Shadow Testament” all fit the phrase.
The Shadow Testament’ s first production that Levi
acted in was part of the Fertile Ground festival, a
series of plays city-wide. “ It’s a festival of new plays,
not always local plays, but generally local new plays,”
said Levi.
Fertile Ground has done well by Mach, who’s had
four plays performed as a part of the festival. Her
production of “ The Yellow Wallpaper” at CoHo is part
of the current Fertile Ground season. Mach explained
how “ The Yellow Wallpaper” came to be a part of this
year’ s festival. She said, “ It’ s a co-production, so
Grace [Carter], who is also the lead actress, she and I
submitted an application to Coho to see if they would
pick our play.”
“ They did, and so they gave us some money . We have
to raise the rest of the money ourselves, but we’re able
to choose the actors and director, so there’s a lot more
freedom,” said Mach.
CoHo then placed the new work in January. “ Because
this is an original script they decided to put it in at the
same time Fertile Ground is happening,” said Mach.
“ The great thing about Fertile Ground is that people
can buy a pass, and then you can go see a ton of new
work happening all over the city.”
Mach also touched on the press advantage of
premiering a new play in the festival. All the plays
benefit from coverage of one, as they’re all wrapped
up in Fertile Ground.
Reflecting on her success in the theater Mach had
some final words. “ In the theater no one makes much
money, so it’s really about the integrity of the work.”
Mach said, “ If you’re like ‘I don’t care,’ I’ll just sell
my script to Hollywood for 100,000 dollars, 200,000
dollars and I’ll take the money. I’ve never been one
of those people.”
Saige Keikkala contributed to this report.
E ► Considered by some to be
a quintessential piece of
American literature in the
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feminist movement ‘Yellow
Wallpaper,’ a play published
I
in 1892 by Charlotte Perkins
Gilman, adapted by Clackamas
Community College’s own
writing instructor and
department chair, Sue Mach,
sheds light on the dark realities
women faced in an era ruled by
men.
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Playing at CoHo Productions <
in Northwest Portland through
Feb. 6, this dramatic and
emotional play shows the
adverse affects of solitary
confinement, a traditional
theme found in thè feminist
genre.
Through journal entries,
Charlotte, played by Grace
Carter, hides from her husband.
We watch her helplessly
deteriorate as she builds an
absolute bête noire for the
“Yellow Wallpaper” that has
become her existence.
Put on bed rest as prescribed <
by her husband, a physician, the<
play is set almost completely in
the bedroom Charlotte inhabits
Dk
for the three-month curing
process she is forced to undergo.
Using a micro-stage that seats
the audience damn near in the
room with Charlotte, we are
forced to feel her discomfort and
understand her insanity.
The tiny set is comprised of a
bed, a wooden chest for her few
articles of clothing and lots of
nauseating yellow wallpaper.
With a psychotic performance
by Carter and the symbolically
small but encapsulating set that
drives you mad with dancing
wallpaper and shadow women
who scurry behind the walls,
this entertaining, dark, gritty
and truly enlightening play is
well worth seeing.
For more information about
the play visit
www.cohoproductions.org.
-Andrew Koczian
Clackamas Print JANUARY 27,2016 thalackamasprint.com 5