An intense drama that raises issues of race, sexual orientation, class, religion, and gender awaits audiences of Short Eyes, which opens this week. The play, directed by Elizabeth "Simon" Ruchti '97, runs March 6-9 in Rooke Theatre (see calendar section for details).
Written by ex-convict Miguel Piñero, Short Eyes is a powerful portrayal of prison life set in the dayroom of a house of detention. A multiracial group of eight young male prisoners taunt, fight, insult, and entertain one another in an attempt to preserve their sanity and create a semblance of community. Ruchti says having the male characters played by female actors adds an important perspective, since many of the men's crimes were against women.
In staging the play, Ruchti followed the theatre techniques of Bertolt Brecht, in which actors, director, and audience do not become emotionally involved with the characters. This allows the actors to comment on their characters' actions even while playing their roles. And because of the way the audience is seated, they become part of the performance. "Actors are talking to audience members as well as to other actors, and the audience's reaction changes the mood of the show," Ruchti explains.
She chose Short Eyes because "it has amazing potential to get people to discuss the issues it presents, and to make us see how we use or are used by systems of oppression," Ruchti says. "The prison is a microcosm of American culture." She hopes the play will attract a diverse audience and will move them to talk about the difficult issues it raises.
Ruchti is a theatre and dramatic literature major who has directed other productions, most recently writing and directing Clinton and Dole Undone.
This scene from Short Eyes shows an especially "negative" side of prison life.
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