PSU Magazine Winter 1988

The woman behind by Kathryn Kirkland I magine sitting in a theater: excited talk fills the air, then as the lights are lowered , a hush settles over the crowd. In the dark waiting for the curtain to rise the audience is ready to be transported to another world , a world that has nothing to do with their everyday ex– istence but for two hours will seem more real than life. This is the magic of theater, a craft many appreciate and a few create. PSU Professor of Theater Arts Pauline Peotter is one of the creative ones. For 25 years she has taught play writing and pro– duced the plays of talented new playwrights for Portland audiences. "Pauline knows how to nurture a writer," said former student Nancy Klementowski . "She knows a writer never gets enough strokes because they do it alone." Peotter's class was just the ticket for Klementowski . An aspiring novelist , Klementowski found her story line weak , but her dialogues great. " I thought that must mean something. If I can only write that part maybe I should only write that part." Klementowski's newest play "Small Combo Blues," about a troubled 18-year– old, won a Northwest Playwrights Guild award. She described it as a big range role that young actors find fascinating, in– cluding an actor who is trying to get it produced in Los Angeles. " Nancy is a landmark for the pro– gram," said Peotter, referring to Klemen– towski 's successful play and her current in– ternship at the Actors Theatre of PSU 14 the playwrights Louisville. "It is one of the foremost theaters for new works," noted Peotter. She expects the experience will change Klementowski 's life, particularly with the program's near 100 percent job placement record . Klementowski will not be working with her own plays or even have time to write during the internship. She will work with other new playwrights while learning the professional theater business. Knowing all aspects of theater is a necessity Peotter stresses to her students from the first term . "Playwrights must be working as part of the production unit. That's what it's all about ," she said. She encourages beginning students to go to plays and play rehearsals, makes them read 20 to 25 plays that first term, and assigns a writing exercise every week. The very first assignment is to eavesdrop for about 20 minutes on a con– versation, transcribe it like life and then It is the university's job to develop playwrights. Commercial theaters don't have the time, find it too risky, too expen– sive, and they just won't. rewrite it and make it interesting. "This generates right away what has to happen ," said Peotter. As the students progress through the academic year they write their own one– act plays, which are made production ready through workshops and staged readings. By hearing the words and seeing the motions the budding playwrights learn what works and what doesn't and are able to rewrite in a safe environment free from the pressures of production costs and the ticket buying public. " It is the university 's job to develop playwrights," maintained Peotter. Commer– cial theaters "don't have the time, find it too risky, too expensive, and they just won't." And it is the playwright's job to be a self promoter, at least until the big break comes. Writers find themselves producing their own plays and being their own agent. Carolyn Gage takes this a step further by acting in her own successful , one– woman play 'The Second Coming of Joan of Arc," which won the Oregon Playwrights Award from the Oregon Literary Arts Society. The play is much like a keynote speech , according to Gage, in which Joan comes back to speak to women of today. Already possessing theater experience, Gage enrolled in Peotter's class and im– mediately found a role model, mentor and patron. "Pauline is very supportive of women's work , and I had not found that before," said Gage. While at Portland State Gage wrote a one-act play that evolved into a full - length script under Peotter's encouragement. "Coming About" won the 1987 New Plays in Progress Series at PSU. This is a yearly contest designed to discover and produce talented new Northwest playwrights. The chosen play is produced at Portland State fall term. " I don't believe a writer should write for drawers," said Peotter. For this reason she encourages new writers with New Plays in Progress and also a spring pro– gram called New Voices. In New Voices one-act plays and other short pieces are chosen for a staged reading at PSU.