Portland Center Stage at the Armory Nassim Portland Oregon

Out of Sterno: heroine’s journey

|

Out of Sterno, the Deborah Zoe Lauffer play that concludes its run at the Siren Theater on Sunday, July 29, manages to teach (and not preach) us how to be better citizens.

Dotty, the heroine of Out of Sterno, has never left the walls of her small and very pink home. Her life is centered on her husband Hamel. She spends her time preparing dinner, doing his laundry, and rewatching video footage of the first time they met. Dotty’s call-to-adventure is literally an unexpected telephone call from Hamel’s mistress, Zena.

At first, Dotty smiles and denies the unpleasant truth of the affair: “As Momma always said, ‘there’s nothing so horrible it can’t be explained away.’” Dotty leaves her home, and witnesses Hamel and Zena embracing and smooching. Nevertheless, she proceeds to see the best in Hamel. She even befriends Zena. Eventually, Dotty’s agency and personal power materialize after an absurd yet tender journey through the manifold obstacles in her way.

Eleanor Herreid O’Neill plays Dotty with balance and control. O’Neill especially shines when she addresses the audience directly. The crowd is invited to laugh at her and to presume that they know what is best for her, yet O’Neill remains one step ahead. During one heartbreaking moment, she asks the audience why they are just sitting there, judging her, and watching in silence. Dotty’s obstacles in the story are also reflected in the audience’s presumptions of what a “real woman” ought to be. The audience becomes complicit in her tragedy.

Eric Simons, playing Hamel, doesn’t reach for the low-hanging fruit of caricature. His gentle warmth pulls the audience into lapses of forgetting his transgressions. This brings a closer empathy with Dotty, and helps the audience understand the complexities of abuse cycles. Further, Janet Scanlon, playing Zena, allows us to see her vulnerability beneath the spiritual bypassing, narcissism and verbal abuse.

Scott Engdahl, plays seven (!) characters, both male and female. Impressively, he plays each character with a distinct voice and physicality.

The set design, by Hingyi Khong, is one of the production’s most enjoyable aspects. The kitchen is a two-dimensional backdrop painted in bold colors with a stove, chair, toaster, and refrigerator. Lacking a third dimension, the visually compelling set corresponds to Dotty’s own struggle between depth and superficiality. The show’s color palette is also strikingly unified; even the smallest props, such as the purple zebra hand towels, exist in relation to the strong colors of the backdrop.

Sponsor

Portland Center Stage at the Armory Nassim Portland Oregon

Out of Sterno is a smart and affecting play in which the dominoes of action fall steadily. The audience is drawn in by Dotty’s compelling emotional reality, while the absurdity in the play amplifies the daily reality of violence against women. As the show unfolds, the audience is challenged to encounter the ways in which sexism lives in us all.

At the end of the play, Dotty says goodbye to the audience and announces that she has to leave us to go start her new life. I couldn’t help but feel that she’s better off without the burden of our gaze.

*

Rosie Rose Productions’ Out of Sterno concludes with performances at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 27-28, and 2 p.m. Sunday, July 29, at the Siren Theater, 315 N.W. Davis St., Portland. Ticket information here.

Be part of our
growing success

Join our Stronger Together Campaign and help ensure a thriving creative community. Your support powers our mission to enhance accessibility, expand content, and unify arts groups across the region.

Together we can make a difference. Give today, knowing a donation that supports our work also benefits countless other organizations. When we are stronger, our entire cultural community is stronger.

Donate Today

Photo Joe Cantrell

Chris is a producer/journalist/playwright based in Portland. He has produced segments for Oregon Public Broadcasting's daily talk show Think Out Loud, and episodes for the science and environment TV show Oregon Field Guide. As a reporter, his stories have been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He has also published work in The Oregonian, Portland Mercury, Oregon ArtsWatch, Willamette Week, and Street Roots. In his spare time, he enjoys writing and producing plays and short films. He was the recipient of the James Baldwin Memorial Scholarship Fund for Playwriting at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His next short film, Wren LaVelle, has been commissioned by Portland Playhouse and will premiere in summer 2023. He recently served as artist in residence at CoHo Theater in Portland, and before that, the School of Contemporary Dance and Thought in Massachusetts. He is currently working as a writer on Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble’s new show The Americans.
SHARE:
Triangle Productions Perfect Arrangement Portland Oregon
Oregon Repertory Singers Finding Light 50th Season Portland Oregon
Portland Playhouse Passing Strange Portland Oregon
Literary Arts Oregon Book Awards Portland Center Stage at the Armory Portland Oregon
Imago Theatre Carol Triffle Mission Gibbons Portland Oregon
Bonnie Bronson 2024 Fellow Wendy Red Star Reed College Reception Kaul Auditorium Foyer Portland Oregon
City of Hillsboro Walters Cultural Arts Center Tony Furtado Hillsboro Oregon
Kalakendra Indian Classical Instrumental Music First Congregational Church Portland Oregon
Portland Center Stage at the Armory Nassim Portland Oregon
Maryhill Museum of Art Goldendale Washington
Portland State University College of the Arts
Golden Road Arts Grey Raven Gallery Near the Reser Beaverton Oregon
Pacific Maritime Heritage Center Prosperity of the Sea Lincoln County Historical Society Newport Oregon Coast
PassinArt Theatre and Portland Playhouse present Yohen Brunish Theatre Portland Oregon
Northwest Dance Project Sarah Slipper Newmark Theatre Portland Oregon
Newport Performance and Visual Arts Centers Newport Oregon Coast
Portland Art Museum Virtual Sneakers to Cutting Edge Kicks Portland Oregon
High Desert Museum Sasquatch Central Oregon
Oregon Cultural Trust donate
We do this work for you.

Give to our GROW FUND.