Madge Owens

Theatre has been an integral part of my life from the time I was in third grade. I made my stage debut as the a Lilliputian in FMCT's children's production of Gulliver's Travels. I don't know how many of you know the story, but Gulliver is a giant in the land of the Lilliputians, a population of miniscule farmers and village people. Lilliputia is only his first stop on his journey and he continues on.

Two weeks ago, I was cast in my first show in three years: Picnic by William Inge. Hal Carter moseys into a 50s town of high morals and classy women... a world different from the one he knew. Rough around the edges, Hal falls in love with the town beauty, Madge Owens, and changes everything about who she is and the world she knows.

To be honest, I thought our director was crazy casting me as Madge Owens. She is soft spoken, delicate, and a hopeless romantic. Never biting, never rude, and completely lost in a world of rich boyfriends and overbearing mothers. I could find nothing to identify with, nothing to sympathize with. This woman, someone I have to analyze and level with... someone I'm expected to embody in every way possible, giving her a worthy portrayal, what the playwright would have wanted.

In the front of every script, there is a brief summary of each character, and when I say brief, I mean a few words summing who they are. Madge Owens is simply described as 'a beautiful girl.' She isn't given any expectations, other than her flawless face.

BUT there lies the beauty of it... as I spend more time studying and analyzing her... the more I feel connected to her. A young woman, trapped by expectations of a family, wanting nothing more to be everything that she isn't. Tired of being seen as only a beautiful face, she finds this man to sweep her off her feet... who sees more than just a pretty face. He sees that she's a real woman, not just a flawless beauty like her steady boyfriend, Alan. I can understand that feeling, of wanting more than you are. Of feeling inadequate, and feeling like what 'gifts' you do have simply can't measure up to what others bring to the table.

As the show goes on, Madge finally finds her voice and inner strength. In a well written arc, she abandons her home and follows Hal to Tulsa, away from her mother, finally listening to her heart instead of her head.

Madge Owens is everything I thought I was before I set myself free. Something I couldn't see until I was already on my way to a different way of life. She seems delicate, but has an inner strength that no one expects or realizes. She is soft-spoken, but finds her voice, finds the words to say what she really feels when the time is right. She's a hopeless romantic, but that hopeless nature gives her the strength to fight for what she wants, and gives her the courage to take the ultimate leap of faith.

As I've been expanding my social horizons into the bar scene, I feel more and more like Madge Owens... just a pretty face with nothing else to give to the world. But you know what?

Fuck that.

Just like Madge Owens, I have so much more to give than just something to look at.

Come and see for yourself.

Picnic shows February 24-26, March 2-5 at 7:30pm, and February 27 & March 6 at 2:00 at the Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre.