Set in a professor's office, "Oleanna" depicts several encounters between a male faculty member and a female student. Appearing shortly after (and partially influenced by) the political firestorm caused by Anita Hill's testimony during the conformation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, "Oleanna" addresses issues of sexual harassment and political correctness.
While it might be viewed as either a diatribe against male sexism or an attack on strident feminism, the play is best seen as a tensely balanced study of power relations. Both gender and class come into play as the well-meaning but self-important professor unselfconsciously uses and abuses his authority to help an insecure, troubled student, who, in turn, uses institutional mechanisms to turn John's condescending attitude against himself. In this tricky tragedy, Mamet doesn't finally determine who is the victim and who is the victimizer.
Under Robert Bonwell Parker's careful direction, Michael Teufel and Sabra Choi do fine work as the teacher, John, and the student, Carol. They come close to finding the balance in sympathy that gives this play the simple complexity of an algebraic equation. Teufel ably conveys the complacence and earnestness of a teacher who thinks he is bending over backward for a student even if he is patronizing her, and Choi captures Carol's helplessness, frustration and anger as she struggles to understand and manipulate academic jargon.
Still, the scales of this production tip toward Teufel's John. His earnestness finally outweighs his complacence, and Choi, who skillfully portrays Carol's inarticulate intensity and natural physical reticence, never makes her pain as obvious as he does his. The last image, setting him center stage and Choi up-stage facing away -- though prone on the floor -- reinforces the sense that he is the ultimate victim here.
While this tightly spun production might not find the tantalizing symmetry of Mamet's play, it cogently expresses the play's disturbing questions.
Continues 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays through Dec. 17, plus 2 p.m. this Sunday and pay-what-you-can show 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15. The CenterRing, 5339 S.E. Foster Road. $10-$12; 503-788-3389
While it might be viewed as either a diatribe against male sexism or an attack on strident feminism, the play is best seen as a tensely balanced study of power relations. Both gender and class come into play as the well-meaning but self-important professor unselfconsciously uses and abuses his authority to help an insecure, troubled student, who, in turn, uses institutional mechanisms to turn John's condescending attitude against himself. In this tricky tragedy, Mamet doesn't finally determine who is the victim and who is the victimizer.
Under Robert Bonwell Parker's careful direction, Michael Teufel and Sabra Choi do fine work as the teacher, John, and the student, Carol. They come close to finding the balance in sympathy that gives this play the simple complexity of an algebraic equation. Teufel ably conveys the complacence and earnestness of a teacher who thinks he is bending over backward for a student even if he is patronizing her, and Choi captures Carol's helplessness, frustration and anger as she struggles to understand and manipulate academic jargon.
Still, the scales of this production tip toward Teufel's John. His earnestness finally outweighs his complacence, and Choi, who skillfully portrays Carol's inarticulate intensity and natural physical reticence, never makes her pain as obvious as he does his. The last image, setting him center stage and Choi up-stage facing away -- though prone on the floor -- reinforces the sense that he is the ultimate victim here.
While this tightly spun production might not find the tantalizing symmetry of Mamet's play, it cogently expresses the play's disturbing questions.
Continues 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays through Dec. 17, plus 2 p.m. this Sunday and pay-what-you-can show 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15. The CenterRing, 5339 S.E. Foster Road. $10-$12; 503-788-3389
posted by:
|
Portland
|
