Bloomington Playwrights Project comes into 'Bloom'

"What happens when the observer becomes the observed?" asks playwright Suzanne Bradbeer in "Full Bloom," featured at the Bloomington Playwrights Project, 312 S. Washington St.\n"Full Bloom" began as a script in the New Harmony Project, an Indiana-based theater and film script development group, said Eric Pfeffinger, literary manager of the Bloomington Playwrights Project. The BPP, which deals mostly with the production of new scripts, has often worked with the Indianapolis-based New Harmony Project, which is involved purely in the developmental aspect of playwriting. \nBradbeer, a playwright currently residing in New York, has worked with the New Harmony Project before, but this is the first time any of her plays have been staged in Indiana. She said she was inspired to write "Full Bloom" after rereading J.D. Salinger's novel "Catcher in the Rye." She wanted to create an updated version of the classic coming-of-age story. \n"Coming-of-age stories are fairly common. It inspired her to continue in that tradition and react against it," said Richard Ford, artistic director of the BPP. \nBradbeer adds a twist to the conventional story by selecting a female protagonist rather than a male. The main character, Phoebe, is based on Holden's smart, sensitive young sister from "Catcher in The Rye." Bradbeer combined this idea with theories from Mary Pipher's book "Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls," which discusses the effects the media and society's ideas about beauty have on the self-image of teenage girls.\n"I wondered what all that would do to a young mind trying to find her place in the world," Bradbeer said. \nPhoebe, an intelligent and expressive young woman, is placed in the 21st century and is forced to deal with the superficial values that surround her. \n"Like her brother, Phoebe has difficulty assimilating the conventions and ideas that 'normal people' accept," Director Brian G. Hartz said.\nSociety bombards her with shallow ideas about beauty. She observes as her neighbor, an aging actress, is forced to get plastic surgery in order to keep getting roles. Her father leaves her mother for a younger woman. \nFor much of the play, Phoebe analyzes a painting. The painting, "One Ment I" by Barnett Newman, has one vivid orange line surrounded by a field of rust. Phoebe is convinced that the field is swallowing the line. \n"She fears it," Hartz said. He explains that the painting is symbolic of Phoebe's struggle to preserve herself in the face of opposing values. \nAdding to this is the conflict between Phoebe's personality and her physical appearance. Throughout her life, Phoebe operated as an observer. She preferred to look, rather than be looked at. But for Phoebe, adolescence brought new beauty. She is now in the spotlight and is forced to deal with the attention that comes with her beauty. Ford said that the play asks the question whether it is actually better to fall within the categories that our society deems beautiful. \nBloomington High School North senior Sarah Baskin plays the role of Phoebe. Baskin moved to Bloomington last year from Montreal when her father became professor of oboe at the IU. She said that while she does not share much of her character's traits, moving was one experience that helped her connect with her character. \n"I know what it's like when everybody's looking (at you)," Baskin said. \nHartz noticed Baskin at a community audition at the John Waldron Arts Center and asked her to come in and audition, this time reading for the part of Phoebe.\n"She looked the part, which was important because so much of the play focuses on Phoebe's looks. She was willing to do what it takes to develop the character, obviously a very complex character, and I could tell that from the auditions," said Hartz of his decision to cast Baskin as Phoebe. \n"Full Bloom" runs through Nov.11, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. To reserve tickets, call 355-9001.