I Am An Actress (live stage)/Becoming Adorable (film)—Fuse Theatre—SE Portland

                                                                 Becoming Jane 

    This duel production is playing at the Backdoor Theatre space in the Common Grounds coffee house, 4319 SE Hawthorne Blvd. (former home of Defunkt Theatre), street parking only, so plan your time accordingly.  The play is directed by Sara Faye Goldman and features Jane Comer (who also wrote it). The film is conceived and presented by Jane Comer.  It runs through December 19th.  For more information, go to their site at www.fusetheatreensemble.com

    The mystery of why we become who we are is not so much whether Nature or Nurture is responsible, but what we do with what we’ve got.  Some, like Jane, know from the age of four that things got a little mixed up in God’s workshop, when it came to assigning her a gender, and so she had a long and arduous road of discovery ahead of her to finally find her true identity, a female, and her Passion, acting.

    But all roads to self-discovery are fraught with pitfalls and revelations.  My road began at ten years old, when I had my first conscious memories of a childhood.  The former years are a riddle, inside an enigma, wrapped in a Black Hole.  In other words, no clue!  And others that I’ve met and gotten to know, are as varied as the grains of sand upon the beach.  And so, my point is (and perhaps, in part, Jane’s, too) is that we all have our stories to tell, but if we really look hard at another, and are willing to walk in their shoes for a bit, we may find we are really not so different after all.  And ain’t it grand to see how many colors of the rainbow it takes to make its beauty…all vibrant…all necessary!

    Jane recounts, sometimes in painful memories, of her Mom’s upbringing (and hers, as well).  It’s not a pretty site but it forged a drive and passion within her to find a positive and constructive way of dealing with these issues and finding her way of exorcising these demons…as an actress.  First, in comedy, and now as an actress and writer…and a very good one, I might say!

    I have deliberately sluffed over the meat of her story because it really needs to be shared by Jane, and she is so natural onstage that you feel she is talking directly to you, as an old friend.  I hesitate to break that communication she has and so it must be shared by her and not through a third party.  It is also wise that Jane had the foresight to have another eye view her material, and herself, in the form of Goldman, who dos an expert job of honing all the pieces together like a home-made quilt.

    The film segment, in part two, has a movie critic, Amy Williams (Comer), of romantic comedies, giving her viewpoint of 4 episodes.  But don’t be fooled by this ruse, as the purpose of this piece comes closer to home than that.  I don’t want to give it away, so you’ll just have to see it to discover the true meaning.  But the entire project is written, produced, directed, edited and performed by Comer, which is quite a feat, but what else could you do, as an artist, during the isolated times of the dark days of Covid.  All very well done!

    I recommend this play/film.  If you do choose to see it, please tell them Dennis sent you.

--DJS