Word: harrisons
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...hero of New Orleans, rode into the White House with two bullets in his body and a white scar across his face. When South Carolina tried to annul new federal tariffs, Jackson sent soldiers to Charleston harbor and muttered about marching south with 50,000 men. William Henry Harrison was the hero of Tippecanoe; Ulysses Grant served under Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War, before going on to glory at Vicksburg and Appomattox; and Rough Rider Teddy Roosevelt, mustache bristling, charged up San Juan Hill and into American mythology. In Eisenhower, one of the century's greatest generals, America found...
Whose Life is it Anyway? relates the story of Ken Harrison (Tom Chick), a sculptor who has become paralyzed from the neck down in a car accident. Harrison's realization that he will never recover leads him to prefer dying to continuing to live as a creative mind trapped in an immobile body. In addition, Harrison feels dehumanized in the antiseptic atmosphere of the hospital, where compassion is considered unprofessional. His request to die is viewed by his doctors as another symptom of shock--something to be treated with valium. Only through a court order does Harrison finally receive...
Director Jen Uphoff has done well to cast Chick as Harrison. The role demands that the character's body remain completely motionless while only the voice and face maintain the audience's attention. Chick has this ability and is the dynamic force in the performance...
This flatness stems more from the play itself than from any fault in Uphoff's direction, as Brian Clark's script seems to permit little deviation from the conventional. The play centers on the anger and alienation caused by Harrison's injury and the impersonality of the hospital staff. Doctors and nurses must act detached to perform their jobs effectively, and in portraying the hospital personnel, the actors must adopt this same aloofness. Contrasted with the emotional charge of Harrison's scenes, those featuring these professionals are often dull...
Unfortunately, not all the actors effectively convey these different levels of emotion. When Harrison's doctor, Clare Scott (Victoria Wei), forgets her professional detachment and supports his decision to die, this important dramatic moment loses potential impact because Wei is unable to communicate her romantic feelings for Chick. As a result, when Scott admits her feelings to Anderson and in the final scene attempts to kiss Harrison goodbye, these actions appear false...