Christopher Eaves'
"Birthmarks" raises
fundamental
questions

The Sun
Baltimore, Maryland

Friday, October 11, 1991

By J. Wynn Rousuck

__Five months ago Christopher Eaves
began work on a movement theater
piece called "birthmarks," about an
adoptee's search for his birth parents.
An adoptee himself, Mr. Eaves wasn't
reunited with his birth parents until
several months later, but their story
turned out to be remarkably close
to the drama he was creating.

__When "Birthmarks" debuts Monday
and Tuesday at Mr. Eaves' alma mater,
Towson State University, his birth
parents and his adoptive parents are
expected to attend. The show is one
of two premieres for 23-year-old
Mr. Eaves; another work, "Class,"
opens at Towson tomorrow as part
of "Cross Currents," a program cele-
brating the inauguration of the
theater departments' movement
theater discipline.

__Mr. Eaves, who also stars in
"Birthmarks," insists, "I didn't want
it to be Chris' story as much as I
wanted it to be a story everyone
could see parts of their life in."
But while the hour-long multimedia
piece encompasses the universal
themes of coming to terms with
the past and forging an identity,
it is also highly personal.

__For instance, a video section tells
the story of an unwanted preg-
nancy — not dissimilar from his
birth parents' predicament. In fact,
the section comes closer to the
truth than the character he devised
for himself — a circus tightrope
walker whose costume includes
a huge pair of wings.

__Unlike most children, Mr. Eaves
didn't want to join the circus during
his formative years in Carroll County.
Instead, he wanted to be a movement
theater artist, an interest he suspects
was sparked by watching "Shields and
Yarnell" on television.

__He defines movement theater as
a style in which "you can use your
muscularity to articulate emotion
the way an actor uses his voice."
Now a resident of New York, he has
performed with the Margolis Brown
Adaptors and is an artistic associate
with Donald Byrd/The Group.

__Maravene Loeschke, chairwoman
of Towson's theater department,
says Mr. Eaves was a major influence
behind the creation of the movement
theater program, which she believes
is the only college program of its kind.

__Mr. Eaves describes his other Towson
debut, "Class," as "an exploration of
social structure in the United States."
The 15-minute work features a cast
of six students, under his direction,
portraying upper-, middle- and lower-
class couples.

__Referring to "Birthmarks," Mr. Eaves
says he still hasn't learned where he
spent the first two years of his life,
after his birth mother surrendered
him and before he was adopted.
Perhaps someone who sees the piece
will fill in the blank.

__Whether or not that occurs,
he hopes audiences will be
provoked by the fundamental
questions "Birthmarks" raises,
such as "Who am I?" and
"What made me the way I am?"

__"In the end," he says, "you have
to answer the questions for yourself."