Twilight Dreams
The Towerlight
Towson, Maryland
Thursday, October 10, 1991
By Lisa Goldberg
__For Christopher Eaves, the night
is filled with vivid images —
of women searching by a pool
for their children who have dis-
appeared into the waters.
__And,
he said, those twilight
dreams are symbolic of his own
adoption as a small child.
__Freud
would be proud.
__On
Oct. 14 and 15, Eaves,
a 1989 graduate of Towson State
University in theater, will return
to his alma mater to present
an original work, "Birthmarks,"
the story of an adoptee's
emotional struggle to find himself.
__And
with the premiere of
"Birthmarks" and "Cross Currents,"
a series of three movement theater
works, the University will inaugurate
its new movement theater concen-
tration.
__Combining
dialogue, song, dance
and movement, "Birthmarks" is
the story of Duckie, a young man
searching for his biological inheritance.
Early in the play, the audience learns, through a "This is your life"
segment
that Duckie, played by Eaves, has lost
his parents.
__"It's
about the mystery of growing
up without the knowledge of where you came from," said Eaves, 23, who lives
in Brooklyn, N.Y. "It's about searching
for your past so you can go forward."
__Surrounding
Eaves on stage will be
a series of symbolic and technical
effects — including a mannequin,
video segments, a chorus of women
with flowers, and wings for Duckie
to wear.
__In
addition, Clea Montville, also
a Towson State graduate in theater,
will portray an elusive mother-figure
both on stage and on video.
__
"I'm not going to say what hap-
pens. Let's just say [Duckie] gets to
a great point of frustration," Eaves
said.
__For
Eaves, the messages of
"Birthmarks" hit home. Adopted at
age 2 in Frederick, Md., he was re-
united with his birth parents in
August. And although Eaves began
working on the piece before he met
his biological parents, he said much
of the video dialogue involving a
teen-age couple's decision to give
their child up for adoption, is start-
lingly close to reality.
__"It's
all frighteningly similar,"
he said, "I was just guessing."
__In
addition to "Birthmarks," which
will be performed next Monday and
Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the Mainstage
Theatre, Eaves will present "Class,"
a "Cross Currents" work examining
the American class structure.
__For
more information about
"Birthmarks" and "Cross Currents,"
which will premiere on Oct. 11,
call 830-ARTS.