Director Enjoys Her Craft

College senior Shannon Forney, an honors candidate in Interdisciplinary Performance, spent her final Winter Term exploring the political side of theater. Venus, showing this weekend, is Forney's honors project and part of Oberlin's Repertory Theater Week.

Kari Wethington: Why did you pick Venus for your final Oberlin production?

Shannon Forney: I read the script in an ExCo my freshman year. The words begged to be spoken aloud and I couldn't sit still throughout the class. Rather than talking about the script, I wanted to taste the words and try on the rhythms.

So, initially, there was an inherent love for the script itself. Later on, I began to understand the themes and issues that the play raised, and my curiosity piqued. I have struggled both personally and ideologically with the notion of the Other but I don't claim to have any answers on the intense issues raised in this production. I just want to frame the questions, and sit tight for some incredible discussion.

KW: Since this play was prepared over Winter Term, how did preparing for Venus differ from other productions you've been involved with at Oberlin?

SF: Well, for one, we created a tight-knit little ensemble. This cast has gone through several stages of camaraderie and group process (both high and low), but it's an incredible cast with extremely talented folks. We rehearsed six days a week for eight hours a day, which was intense. At first, we did a lot of physicalization and movement and then moved into the script. It was so nice to really feel like we had the time to explore the issues of the play: other-ness, spectatorship, racism, colonialism, exoticization and harmful play vs. innocent curiosity.

One of the most incredible things was having a weekend workshop with Jennifer Miller, circus performer and true to life, a woman with a beard. Jennifer came to teach us clowning work and skills: plate-spinning, juggling and acrobatics. Even more importantly, Jennifer helped us dig into the material. What's it like to be gawked at when you go grocery shopping? What's it like to be on display?

We gawked at each other and began really ingesting what it must have been like to be displayed as an oddity. And what's interesting is that the gaze of the street spectator is similar to the gaze of the scientist, which is similar to the gaze of the audience. When you figure out how many ways there are to look at people, the show is taken to a deeper level.

KW: Venus brings up questions of exploitation. How does the play explore that theme?

SF: The Venus character is displayed over and over again in many contexts, and her exploitation is monetary, emotional and to some extent legal. Her case was actually taken to court in 1810 to see if she was a victim of Òslavery.Ó The play potentially exploits the actress who portrays Venus and I have tried to overcome that obstacle partially through puppetry. The power of puppetry is that in animating a puppet, it is acceptable to project powerful emotions and situations onto the puppet itself. Therefore, you can show exploitation very creatively, symbolically Ñ and it's a powerful thing to see.

KW: The popular notion is to think of Sarah Baartman as a victim to society. Does Venus investigate and/or distort that notion?

SF: This show is great because no one character is good or bad. It's much more realistic, in that there are good guys who do bad things and bad guys who do good things. It's a statement that human kind has faults and it is the recognition of these faults that makes us err on the good side. Venus is not simply a victim. She falls in love with the doctor. And the doctor really does love the Venus, even though he destroys her.

The Mother Showman also loves the Venus as a mother would a child, and yet she still exploits her. The chorus of Wonders becomes a chorus of spectators; thus they too are guilty of destructive looking. The relationships have multiple dimensions. I think this kind of multiple characterization is exquisitely realistic. All people contradict themselves; it's probably human.

KW: How does the audience fit in to all of this?

SF: The audience is also implicated in the show. They are innocent viewers, but I hope for them to leave the show with a heightened awareness Ñ a Brechtian awareness, if you will, about how they view the world and each other.

This show turns theatrical normality on its head and begs the audience to be the actors and lets the actors become the audience. The stilted gals are primary sites for this. They frame the stage (and the show) and they are watching the audience as much as the audience watches the show. Ultimately, you have to wonder who is really performing here? You or us?

KW: Plans for post-Oberlin existence? SF: Sure. I've always got plans for something. Actually, I'm getting married to my high school sweetheart in September. We've been engaged for awhile now and we're ready to do this for real. Hey Ñ love does wonderful crazy things to you. Eventually? I want to run a puppet theatre in Boulder, CO. I'd like to work in Montreal for a while, and build a house someday. I guess in the near future I am planning on finally doing my laundry and returning those library books. I'm ready to relax for awhile; but honestly, I'm truly happiest when I'm busy and excited about a new project, so we'll see where the semester leads me.