Locked Doors The UO's latest production scrutinizes 20th century patriarchy. BY DANNY CROSS Once you figure out what's happening on the hectic stage, University Theatre's latest production, After Mrs. Rochester, becomes a powerful and complex condemnation of 20th century patriarchy. Three separate stories take place simultaneously. First, novelist Jean Rhys writes a memoir of her life leading up to the publication of her most famous novel, The Wide Sargasso Sea. Second, the memoir Rhys is writing is acted out by a character named Ella, which was Rhys' name before she changed it for publication. And third, scenes from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre are performed to demonstrate the connection that Rhys felt with the character of Mrs. Rochester, a West Indian woman who is locked in an attic after doctors decide she's crazy. The show opens with Rhys, played by 1989 UO graduate Annie McGregor, anxiously drinking and scribbling the story we are about to witness. Bertha (Dakota Belle Witt), a thick, black haired woman with darkened eyes and unshaven armpits, represents the physical confinement of Mrs. Rochester. It's that feeling of being locked up and trapped that Rhys relates to as she describes her own life in the memoir she's writing. As the younger Rhys, Ella (Emily Peterson) is introduced as a playful 13-year-old who is constantly derided by her mother for her lack of formality. Ella is sent to a monastery in England and eventually ends up performing in a cabaret. Representing Ella's subconscious, Bertha is on stage during the entire performance crawling around the floor and violently pleading with people. Her dark, convulsive character constantly reminds the audience that in this era, women had little independence and were expected to follow strict, limiting codes of conduct. Her tribal dances and convulsive movements demonstrate the culture that Ella is supposed to hide once in Europe. The play's most compelling theme is women's reliance upon men for everything from wealth and safety to respectability. For example, throughout her entire life, Ella is told she must find a man — first by her mother who basically wants to rid herself of a nonconformist, curious daughter; then from her fellow cabaret dancers in England who encourage her to prostitute herself. From Mrs. Rochester in Jane Eyre, to Rhys' mother in Dominica and finally to Rhys herself, sex is a woman's only device for attaining security. Most of the plot follows Ella's involvement with powerful men who provide safety and security in exchange for sex. The set, a messy wood-floored study, allows all three stories to take place at the same time. Rhys scribbles her story on notepads at the front of the stage. Just behind her, the European scenes from when Ella was sent to England take place. In the back, a door to the room allows both the attic scenes from Jane Eyre and the scenes where Rhys' daughter tries to visit her increasingly neurotic mother. Throughout the play, the locked door and "window too high to see through" symbolize women's confinement in society and also, either forced or self-imposed imprisonment. But at times, the metaphors seem overused, pervading the three different interacting stories on stage. The performance, for lack of a less cliché description, is powerful. Violent screaming erupts throughout the performance. The characters are almost always hurt and their emotional outbursts create the force of misery portrayed in the play. After Mrs. Rochester run March 3-18 at the UO's Robinson Theatre. $12 gen/ $9 stu. Call 346-4363 for more info or tickets.
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