Man's
Birthmarks'
looks at problems
of the adoptees
Carroll
County Times
Westminster, Maryland
Thursday, October 10, 1991
By Angelita Plemmer
Times Staff Writer
__For 24-year old Christopher
Eaves, the large birthmark on his
torso and the events in his early
childhood have spurred an hour
long production about the
struggles of adoption.
__
Unpredictable,
youthful, energetic
and most definitely abstract, the
Taneytown native animatedly
explained
how he hopes his production,
"Birthmarks," a play about adoption in
America, will help others understand
the struggles and problems adoptees
experience.
__
Eaves,
who is himself an adopted
child, plays the role of "Duckie," a
country character who is a member
of
a traveling circus.
__
As
Duckie attempts to find his birth
parents, the inner struggle and turmoil
experienced by Duckie as well as his
birth parents is revealed.
__
Combining
symbolism, surrealism
with a dose of reality, Eaves uses
actual video footage of a march held
by the Council
for Equal Rights
in Adoption, an organization for
adoptees and birth parents who are
lobbying to change legislation about
closed adoption records.
__
Eaves
shot footage of the group as
it marched from New York to the District
of Columbia in June this year.
__
He
also interviewed several members
of the organization who told of their
successes and failures in trying to
find their real birth parents.
__
"Many
adoptees come very close
to finding their real parents," Eaves
said, "but they are stopped because
they discover the their adoption
records are closed."
__
However,
despite the odds,
Eaves' search was a success.
__
Originally
born in Anne Arundel
County, Eaves a 1985 graduate of
Francis Scott Key High School and
the 1984 Mr. 4-H, was adopted
when he was 2 years old.
__
"I
always knew I was adopted,"
Eaves said, "It was never a shock."
__
"But
the realization didn't
happen until later when I got into
my teens," he said, "that I don't
look anything like my parents
and I don't look like my brother."
__
Both
of Eaves' adopted parents,
Carroll and Rosalie Eaves, are
horticulturalists while Eaves
said he has always been
interested in the theater.
__
That
just kind of sat with me
last year until Christmas time.
I really wanted to know where
I came from," he said.
__
Consequently,
he contacted
several organizations that help
adoptees find their birth parents.
And although he had some
difficulty, his birth mother
was also trying to locate him
at the same time.
__
And,
after several months,
he finally got a call in July that
the Adoptees Liberty Movement
Association had found a match
for his birth parents with the
information he had provided.
__
In
August he was able to meet
his birth parents and they will be
attending his production, which
will be held at the main theater
of Towson State University on
Oct. 14 and 15.
__
"It
was very emotional" meeting
them, the 1989 Towson State
Graduate said. "The was great."
__
Throughout
the process, his
adopted parents were very sup-
portive and encouraging, the former
drama student said.
__
"Rarely
are all the parties that
cooperative I think," Eaves added,
noting that the two families of his
birth parents were very accepting.
However, even after you've found
them, he said, "You're still left with
yourself" and you must continue to
get on with your life.
__
Using
movement theater — or
incorporating emotion into movement,
Eaves demonstrates his through
Duckie, who in one scene, attempts
to play with an enormous orange ball
in an effort to re-live his childhood.
However, the ball overwhelms him
and "it's almost a nightmare of what
happens when you go back to your
childhood and try to complete it,"
Eaves said.
__
But
the production has a hopeful
ending, he said.
__
"I
really felt so complete after
I met my parents," he said, and
similarly, with "Duckie" he feels
secure in himself and can continue
with his life.
__
Two
other Carroll County residents,
"Birthmarks" co-director Joseph Brady
and Paul Mathews,
who was responsible
for the play's musical composition
and sound design, are two friends he
made in college who are also working
with Eaves to make the production
a success. They have worked on the
project for several months, as well
as being lent a helping hand by
various friends and family members.
__
Eaves,
who returned to Towson
this year, said he is glad to return to
his alma mater following a two-year
stay in New York where he toured with
a movement theater company called
Margolis Brown Adaptors.
__
In
addition to his own production,
he is also directing a group of students
in another production, which allots him
with on a 1:30 a.m. daily rehearsal
time for "Birthmarks."
__
But
according to Eaves, the hard
work and preparation for "Birthmarks"
is well worth it because, "I want the
audience to be entertained," but at
the same time, "I want them to walk
out with a better understanding of
what people involved in adoption
go through."
__
"My
hope is that I can take (the
audience) somewhere else," Eaves
said. "They may not know why but
they're
touched . . . and it will
have an impact."