Ovation’s “Voice” to be Heard
by Jon Vater
This October, Ovation Theatre Company will present the rarely performed, but enlightening and entertaining play A Voice of My Own by Elinor Jones. The play, written in 1979, presents six actresses portraying more than twenty female writers from 600 B.C. up through the 20th century. Audience members will meet such varied personalities as Sappho, Jane Austen, Dorothy Parker and Toni Morrison, to name just a few. A Voice of My Own conveys the obstacles and challenges along with the triumphs that female authors faced from the beginning of the written word until about the early 1900's. However, this is not an evening in a lecture hall. Many of the women represented were noted for their articulation and cleverness and this brightness shows through to create a thoroughly entertaining bit of theatre.
Though this piece is not a musical in the conventional sense, it is accented by occasional songs performed by the actresses. The cast includes OTC veterans Lisa Hall Breithaupt, Sunshine Capelletti and Kristin Clippard along with faces new to the company: Burgess Byrd, Leanne Greenberg and Barbara Karol. We hope you will join Ovation in this celebration of the feminine viewpoint.
Ovation Receives Two “Jackie” Awards
by Jon Vater
Every year, usually around Labor Day, The Cincinnati Enquirer's resident theatre columnist Jackie Demaline announces her selections for the annual Enquirer Theatre Awards (nicknamed "Jackies".) This year, Ovation Theatre Company received two such honors. In the category “Emerging Theater Outstanding Performance – Actress”, Michelle Becker was noted for her role as Rose in Avow. In the design awards, Carus Waggoner and Rick Couch were given the distinction “Outstanding Achievement in Technical Theater” for their striking work with puppets and set pieces in Ovation’s The Two Towers.
“Voice” Director Enjoys Reading Female Authors and Working with Female Actors
by Jon Vater
Though A Voice of My Own director Joe Stollenwerk has long made it a point to study the work of female writers, he had previously concentrated more on drama, poetry, essays or theory. Fiction was one area that he could stand to learn more about. So with this show, he is both celebrating a topic he has long supported (Feminism), yet is learning something himself in the process about what it has taken for female writers to get to the point where they are today and what works led the way.
He’s had some reading to do in order to fully prepare for the undertaking of this play. He says, “One of works mentioned in the play that I was familiar with is sort of the inspiration for the whole piece: Virginia Woolf's essay A Room Of One's Own. This essay was based on a lecture she gave in the 1920s on women and fiction, and is incredibly insightful. A lot of it is used as the frame for the play A Voice of My Own. I've been trying to catch up on my reading this summer - I read Sense and Sensibility, which I just loved, and Frankenstein, which I actually did not care for. I've tried starting Fanny Burney's Evelina, but it's proving a challenge, and that's too bad because it's on my reading list for my comprehensive exam for my MA next spring, so I have to read it some time.” He adds, “But I have studied a good deal about how women have struggled to be taken seriously as writers, and as a feminist, that is something that really appeals to me. I don't think your average person today realizes that women can write novels or poetry or plays today only because for some two thousand years, a handful of women scattered about history worked very hard to make it happen. We just take it for granted today.” Another one of Stollenwerk’s joys is the opportunity to work with fine actresses. (Local actresses such as Christine Brunner, Judy Malone and Corinne Mohlenhoff have won raves for their work in plays he’s directed.) He says, “The prime reason I've wanted to do this play is the acting opportunities it gives to women. Over the past few weeks I've had the chance to work with six great actresses, all of whom get to perform multiple roles. It's a real treat for me, and not only because they're so talented. It's very fulfilling for me to get to present Cincinnati with such a great show, written by a women, based on the writings of other women, that features six great actresses. Not to knock men at all, but probably 3/4 of all roles in theatre are for men, and probably 3/4 or more of the actors in Cincinnati are women.”
Knowing that among all the writers featured in A Voice of My Own, he must have favorites, Stollenwerk was asked if it’s hard to pay equal attention to each of them. He replied, “It's funny that my favorite authors are not necessarily my favorite characters in the play. Two of my favorite characters are 17th Century authors Margaret Cavendish and Aphra Behn, and I've never read anything of theirs. Two of my favorite authors, both of whom I've read extensively, are Lillian Hellman and Dorothy Parker, and both of them are seen in the play for just a short time. I'm not a huge fan of "Frankenstein" but I love the monologue Mary Shelley has about writing it. So, that aspect of the play has not been as hard as one might think.”
All this talk of enlightening and historical reference might lead someone to believe that this play is dull, talky or akin to an evening at night school. When this possibility was presented to Stollenwerk, he explained, “I had certainly had concerns about that - I mean, I see this as entertaining, but I don't think I really speak for the masses. But from the moment we began auditions, I could tell that the actresses would really bring this to life, and that's certainly been the case. Each of the more than 20 authors is very unique and has an interesting story to tell. And some of the play is very funny - much more so than you might expect from a piece of educational feminist literary theatre. I cast women who were versatile, funny, and engaging, who will really draw the audience into what they're doing. The play is meant to speak to everyone, not just women, and so I'm directing this play not only with women audiences in mind, but also the husbands who get dragged along. I want the play to draw them in, too, and I really think it will. This is certainly not going to be a 90 minute lecture. The play is broken up with a lot of variety yet has a great sense of flow to it. And there's a dozen or so songs in it, which the actresses have really brought to life. A few of them are very funny, and some of them are quite powerful.” To further encourage men to attend this play, he adds, “It really does not bash men, and I wouldn't want to scare away any men from the audience. For the most part, it celebrates the struggle and accomplishments of women rather than dwelling on any negativity brought on by men. And what there is of that is dealt with in a more humorous way. This isn't a ‘women good, men bad’ kind of show.”
A Voice of My Own will be augmented by live music prior to curtain, artwork by a female in the lobby and talk back sessions after some of the performances.
Avow Gets a Strong Reception
by Jon Vater
OTC's recent production of Bill C. Davis' Avow (a serio-comic look at the prospect of gay marriage) attracted a wealth of audience members. CityBeat's Rick Pender noted the audience laughter in his review of the play. Even though he and The Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Jackie Demaline found certain faults within the writing of the play itself, both found aspects of Ovation's presentation worthy of praise. Pender pointed out the strengths of several actors including Michelle Becker and A.J. Ford. Demaline said, “The big performance in Avow comes from Michelle Becker as Brian and Irene's mom...” and “(Mary Jo)McClain, in her first local role, promises to be a welcome addition to the local small-stage scene.” Barbara Sorenson also received good notices for her small, but delightful role. Both reviewers also noted the hurdle that director Joe Stollenwerk gave himself by setting the play in the round, yet both congratulated the way it was pulled off. Demaline observed how this method kept things moving while Pender said, “Stollenwerk has staged Avow in the round, a challenging approach, but his cast...uses the space effectively.”