Graduate students explore abortion in ‘Cider House Rules'

Theatre • "The Cider House Rules" was originally a novel written by John Irving and is being performed in two parts through mid-December by the California Reperatory Company. Keith Ian Polakoff

 

By Austin Lewis
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

"The Cider House Rules," the California Repertory Company's first play of the 2004-05 season, is being performed at the Edison Theater in Long Beach until Dec. 11.

"The Cider House Rules' is driven by issues without being doctrinaire," Director Joanne Gordon said. "It dares to ask important questions — questions that plague us all."

Originally a John Irving novel, "The Cider House Rules" was adapted to the stage and turned into two full-length plays by Peter Parnell. It is a story of orphan Homer Wells and Dr. Wilber Larch. Homer, unable to find a suitable home elsewhere, spends his childhood years growing up at the St. Cloud's orphanage. Dr. Larch becomes Homer's father figure, and raises him along with the help of two nurses.

As Homer grows older, he begins to help with things around the orphanage. At first, he has the simple task of reading bedtime stories — "Great Expectations" and "David Copperfield" — to the orphans. Homer learns basic medical skills as he grows older, and he is soon helping Dr. Larch deliver babies at St. Cloud's.

In time, Homer discovers that not all of the pregnant women who visit Dr. Larch are there to give their newborns up for adoption. He finds a dead fetus, and soon learns that Dr. Larch has been providing abortions to some of the women. Homer is okay with this practice at first, but he soon refuses to assist with the abortions and begins to question his beliefs. This sets up the second part of the play, which explores abortion, incest and other social issues.

For "The Cider House Rules," the Edison Theater is set up in a way that allows the audience to be much closer to the action onstage. Instead of featuring a traditional setup with the stage at one end of the theater and seats taking up the remainder of the floor space, the stage is moved to the center of the room and the rows of seats are moved to the walls.

A tank of water is set in the floor in the center of the room, which is surrounded by a circular wooden stage. An additional wooden set piece, which houses stage lights, is hung from the ceiling and surrounded by branches. This ambitious set design creates a challenge for the actors, as the audience they are performing for is surrounding them on three sides. The stage rotates during various parts of the play, which allows the actors to reach everyone.

While this unique stage adds to the performance, it does have one major flaw. Several scenes in the play have about a dozen people on stage at a time. With so many people on stage at once, actors who aren't speaking are often standing or sitting in front of those who are. Audience members seated in certain parts of the theater have to shift in their seats and crane their necks to see everything during some of these scenes. While this is an inconvenience to some, it surely doesn't take away from the overall experience.

Additional performances of both parts of "The Cider House Rules" are scheduled throughout November and December. The California Repertory Company's season will continue in 2005 with performances of "Medea" and "Swimming in the Shallows." Visit www.csulb.edu/depts/theatre/ for more information, including ticket prices and performance dates.