In 'Birthmarks'
the Bird Boy finds
his mother, as did
the actor

The Evening Sun
Baltimore, Maryland

Friday, October 11, 1991

By Winifred Walsh
Evening Sun Staff

__The Bird Boy ascends the stage
on shiny white and silver wings.
As he softly lands amid a cluster
of chorusing women, he finds himself
in an alien environment where he
resembles no one.

__ In a desperate search for his own
kind, he experiences a series of
comical and tragic misadventures
that at last lead him to the mother
who abandoned him at birth.

__ This is the surreal framework for
"Birthmarks," an autobiographical
movement piece written and
performed by Christopher Eaves.

__ "It is a spiritual experience for me,"
said Eaves recently during a rehearsal
break at the college. "I just found my
birth parents two months ago."

__ In the piece, "a struggling teen-age
couple feels compelled to give up their
newborn for adoption. This is what
actually happened in my real life," he
said, "but I did not know it at the time
I wrote 'Birthmarks.'

__ It is being presented Monday
and Tuesday evenings in the Mainstage
Theatre at Towson State University,
part of the university's new Movement
Theatre program which gets under
way tonight with "Cross Currents"
An Evening of Three Original
Movement Theatre Works."

__ Eaves' experimental one-hour
vignette combines motion, spoken
text, dance, song and video to give
audiences an enlightened view of an
adoptee growing up in America.

__ "In my parable, Bird Boy [he is also
known as Duckie, the ugly duckling]
has a passionate desire to seek his
roots. He feels a misfit in his present
world surrounded by beings with
different genealogical makeup."

__ The wings attached to the actor's
shoulders have an eight-foot span
and were created especially for his
show. "The wings are prevalent
throughout the play and are a
symbol of the character's desire
to fly away," he said.

__ Eaves, a blond young man with
an aristocratic countenance, is
a 1989 graduate of the Towson
State Theatre Department and is
currently a professional performer
working out of New York.

__ Reflecting on his past, he said
he did not know what happened the
first two years of his life. There are no
records available. "At age 2 I was
adopted through the Frederick County
Department of Social Services by Carroll
and Rosalie Eaves," he said. They run
a flourishing chrysanthemum business
from their Taneytown farm."

__ In Eaves' work, chrysanthemums are
carried on stage by the assemblage
of women. "Each flower represents the
children they have given up," he said.

__ "I have always had different
interests from my adoptive parents,"
he pointed out. "I had a love for
theater since age 10. I was in
every play at Francis Scott Key
High School. At Towson State I
majored in theater and studied mime.
Then I changed from mime to directing
and acting — four years of intensive
study of movement and voice."

__The Eaveses also adopted another
son, Steven, who was raised with
Christopher. "We have no blood ties,
but we are a true family," said the
actor, who also earns a living as a
theater director, singer and dancer.

__ In his ongoing search for his birth
parents, Eaves, 24, was assisted by
ALMA (Adoptees Liberty Movement
Association). "My mother, Sharon
Keller, had registered with them, and
the group brought us together. Sharon
put me in touch with my father, Mac
Johns. They live in Glen Burnie and
are happily married to other people,"
he said, proudly showing snapshots
of both.

__ "Meeting my mother for the first
time — and later my father — I felt
every emotion you can imagine,"
he said. "They were both 16 when I
was born. They were so happy to see
me . . . 'I've waited over 20 years,'
my mother said, crying. "'God bless
you,' said my father. We all hugged."
added Eaves, misty-eyed at the
remembrance.

__ "I was told I was one-third Welsh,
one-third Cherokee and one-third
German. And I have three half sisters.
That was good to know."

__ The two sets of parents and their
families all plan to attend the show.

__ "I have always known I was
adopted," he said. "So there was
no shock, which could be damaging
if you find out late in life. There are
few scars. And now that I have found
my birth parents and sisters, I can
get on with my life."

__ The actor has trained with the
Margolis Brown Adaptors in New York
and serves as artistic associate of
Donald Byrd/The Group. He recently
appeared at the Theatre Project in
"Honey Chil' Milk," a portrayal of black
women in the media."

__ The other three pieces in the
Towson State University Movement
Program, which continues through
Oct. 19, are: "Gender Dance,"
directed by David Gaines; "What
happens when they find out I'm not
the man I think I am," directed by
Tom Casciero; and another work
by Eaves, "Class," an examination
of American class structure.

__ Curtain time for all shows
is 8 p.m. Tickets are $8/$5/$4.
For reservations and dates of
particular plays, call the Towson
State University box office at
830-ARTS.

Photo (José A. Villarrubia):
Christopher Eaves
as the Bird Boy.