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KIM FAIRBAIRN, MELISSA MILLER AND
MEGAN ROBERTSON IN ACE’S DISENCHANTED
PRINCESS ACT
Bawdy, naughty women set Disney
straight in ACE’s Disenchanted
Thunderbird
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Eugene OR
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N
o holds barred: There is nothing the ladies in
Disenchanted aren’t willing to throw down in an effort
to overturn society’s ideal of a Disney princess. From
tirades about historical inaccuracies to really dirty
Pinocchio jokes, all’s fair in Actors Cabaret of Eugene’s
(ACE) production of Dennis T. Giacino’s irreverent musical.
There is plenty to poke fun at in the Disney portrayal of women
from Germanic and French folktales, Chinese legends and
American history. While Disenchanted goes too far at times (OK,
all the time), it does explore some interesting issues, such as: Why
are we marrying guys we just met the page before? Why are
woodland creatures chattering to us all the time? And who cleans
this castle, anyway?
At the heart of the issue is the manner in which Disney
hammers home the so-called Princess Complex, “in which you are
only desirable and valid if you are a beauty-obsessed, ditzy,
insecure, Bambi-like waif,” and you somehow need a man to save
you.
THE WAR AT HOME
An Iraqi vet returns home in University
Theatre’s Water by the Spoonful
T
here’s something slightly off about University Theatre’s
current production of Water by the Spoonful, the Pulitzer-
winning second installment in Quiara Alegría Hudes’ tril-
ogy of plays about a returning Iraqi War vet who struggles
to reintegrate himself into civilian life in the U.S.
There’s a sense that the play itself, with its intersecting
storylines and themes of addiction and alienation, proves too
weighty, too loaded with significance for the crew at UT to handle:
The production, directed by Theresa May, is at once overly
reverential and lacking in confidence. There is too much and too
little going on, and the result is not so much a failure as a kind of
stillbirth — something that never gathers into the emotional sum
of its constituent parts.
Taken individually, those parts are interesting and often
moving. As battled-scarred Elliot (Michael Teague) deals with his
Puerto Rican family and a dead-end job at a sandwich shop in
Philadelphia, we witness the young man’s chronic isolation,
especially evident his haunting by an Iraqi ghost (Ryan Sayegh).
Elliot himself is a kind of ghost, a flickering figure incapable of
coming to terms with a violent past and an incomprehensible
JANUARY 28, 2015 • EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
Disenchanted is a great choice for ACE, with a small cast, wild
costumes and raucous audience participation. Six women with big
voices get to participate in lusty vocal numbers and a wild rumpus
on the stage. Chelyce Chambers, Kim Fairbairn, Melissa Miller,
Jenny Parks, India Potter and Megan Robertson — all under the
direction of Joe Zingo — make for a great team, and one
enthusiastically hailed by the audience.
Disenchanted is not a spit-polish, picture-perfect play. It’s more
Amy Schumer than Meryl Streep, and that’s fitting for the theme.
Like any variety show, some songs are better than others and the
banter between the characters can be a little forced.
But despite the silly, over-the-top gags and gutter-dragging
lyrics, there are moments of beautiful insight. Pocahontas sings
“Honestly,” in which she decries the inaccurate telling of her story
as well as the crazy sexuality Disney thrust upon a character who,
by most accounts, would have been 10 years old when the story
takes place. “All I Want to Do is Eat” is a laugh-until-you-start-
sobbing song about the insane impossibility of remaining young
and thin.
Short and anything but sweet, ACE’s Disenchanted is just what
a rainy January evening calls for. It’s not a family show, so bring
your friends, not your children. As one audience member put it
afterward: “I had a great girls’ night out with my friends.” If you
don’t have plans for Valentine’s weekend, this would be the most
appropriate reservation to make. — Anna Grace
Disenchanted plays through Feb. 20 at Actors Cabaret of Eugene; actorscabaret.org or
683-4368.
present; and his future, therefore, is not just uncertain but
terrifying.
Alongside Elliot’s story runs that of his estranged mother,
Odessa (Zeina Salame), a 12-stepper who runs an online chatroom
for recovering crack addicts, a group that includes the sassy
Orangutan (Allie Murakami), the middle-aged Chutes & Ladders
(Isaiah Nixon) and Fountainhead (Riley Olson), a successful
businessman in denial about his habit. As these people seek to
connect and heal over vast digital distances, we find a mirror for
Elliot’s own sense of isolation.
Hudes’ play is innovative in the way it juggles this tangle of
stories that weaves around and through itself on stage, jumping
across geography and time to reveal the source of Elliot’s pain.
The problem is, the collected stories never gain the necessary
momentum. Moments of revelation or catharsis or forgiveness get
lost amid a clutter of technique and flourishes, such as the heavy
reliance on recorded music to accentuate the jazzy nature of
Hudes’ narrative style. Scenes occurring simultaneously on stage
tend to override each other, blurring the focus for both.
Such over-determination leads to a play that seems bent on
proving its relevance rather than telling its tale — a thing more
academic than felt. This is understandable: Addiction and PTSD are
pervasive contemporary concerns with no easy solution. They touch
us all. But UT makes the mistake of turning Water by the Spoonful
into an object lesson rather than an object of art. — Rick Levin
Water by the Spoonful runs through Jan. 31 at UO’s Hope Theatre; tickets.uoregon.edu or
346-4363.