CENTER STAGE: "Here she is!"

Philadelphia Festival TheatrePhiladelphia Festival TheatreDirector: Carol RocamoraPhiladelphia Festival TheatreDirector: Carol RocamoraWritten by Joyce Carol Oates The vignettes introduced the audience to the intimacy of American women's lives and their love relationships. The unifying theme centered around the issues of self-image and society. Each main female character attempted to discover her own identity -- or at least question her life's achievements or failures. One of the variations on this theme was the "facelessness" of the women who had lost their identity. In the play "Good Morning! Good Afternoon!" the director chose to mask the face of the main character with stockings, presenting the audience a striking example of anonymity. The effect was truly emotional, proving how hard it was to watch a faceless woman -- even when acting. Each story provided a close insight into women's lives by appearing either exaggerated or too common, yet still humorous and satirical. The blue set and the closing-in of the lights accompanied the most intimate and serious problems. The play "Lethal" provided a corollary to the theme of the woman's crisis, illustrating the gradual metamorphosis of a man's love from gentleness to violence and animalism. "The Sacrifice," especially written for the Philadelphia Festival Theatre, continued this idea, presenting the tragedy of a young wife who must deal with the difficulty of both her husband's departure and restarting a new life. Through a wild, outstanding performance by Lisbeth Bartlett, this play was the most touching and realistic of all. The previous shows were simply foreshadows of this much more articulate and well–put together piece. Other topics addressed were rape, the Miss America myth and racism. Several of the pieces were less interesting, with trivial or stereotyped subject matter. But in the end, the author's strong view regarding the female individuality was clearly evident. At one point, Muriel, a main female character, asked "Are all the men like this?" referring to the animalistic, aggressive characters. Since all the male parts in "Here She Is!" point to a response in the affirmative, the audience could not conclude otherwise. --Raluca Georgescu