Albany Civic Theater's 'Going to See the Elephant' shows the true joy and heartache of frontier women

By Heather Crabtree

The Entertainer

I fell in love with anything and everything to do with the 19th Century at a young age through reruns of a television series from 1968, set post-Civil War.

I found it perfect that at the end of the hour, the people had changed, but everything was set right because of several brash characters determined to find that happy ending.

As I got older and studied the history of real pioneers, I realized those perfect, romantic notions were nothing more than naivete, and the happy endings from my program didn't exist for the women of that era.

In Albany Civic Theater's latest production, "Going to See the Elephant," opening at 8 p.m. Friday, June 22, those romantic notions often attached to life in the 1800s are mingled with a powerful tale that explores the joys, fears and heartache of American pioneer women.

Additional performances will be at 8 p.m. June 23, 28, 29 and 30, and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 24, at ACT, 111 First Ave., downtown Albany.

The title "Going to See the Elephant" is based on a term used in the mid-1800s to describe the desire to explore, to experience the West.

The play is set outside a sod hut in Kansas in the 1870s, where four women talk about and try to cope with life on the prairie, wolf attacks and the constant fear of Indians.

To prepare for their roles, the ensemble cast not only read about life in the 19th century, but experienced history firsthand during re-enactments.

Harriet Nixon (Mrs. Nichols), Johanna Spencer (Maw Wheeler), Kelly Powers (Sara Wheeler) and Shawna Thibert (Etta Bailey) journeyed with director Paul Watts to the Civil War re-enactment at Cheadle Lake in Lebanon in May; spent a day at the Monteith House in Albany learning to cook prairie style; and traveled to the Oregon Trail Museum in Oregon City.

"I think it puts you in a certain perspective that you don't get in a lot of shows," Nixon said about the field trips. "We actually experienced these things (in the play) and not just read about it; we actually lived that for a moment, not just read our lines."

Of all the women in the play, Nixon's character has the hardest time coping with life on the frontier. From New York, she and her husband traveled west in search of a dream, and instead found only heartache. Mrs. Nichols clings hard to the life she knew, which conflicts with the reality of life on the prairie; she doesn't always understand why things cannot be her way.

Nixon does a wonderful job playing the woman torn between these two lives. She radiates pensive, frustrated emotions and leaves the audience holding its breath, waiting for the moment she finally breaks.

The Civil War re-enactment is where Spencer was able to dive into her character, who possesses medical knowledge.

"When we went to the Civil War re-enactment, they showed me how to amputate a limb," Spencer said. "There was a lot of medical information and there was a lot of overlap. When you first read (the script), you didn't know about the history, but after this experience, it gives me some understanding."

Spencer's character is the matriarch of the family - who still isn't speaking to her son over political differences regarding the Civil War even though they live in the same house.

She is a woman who has "seen the elephant," yet still dreams of what might be over the next hill. She doesn't smite the dreams of the younger women around, but push come to shove she is a strong woman who will face facts like any seasoned matriarch.

It is this strength that Spencer projects, even when she is pulling her daughter-in-law into her daydreaming.

Powers' character is the realist of the group, never daring to slip into thoughts of something grander. She doesn't dare look in a mirror because the life she leads does not lend itself to looking pretty. She is serious, aging with her this-is-how-it-is attitude.

Yet with Powers in the role of Sara, you get the full dimension of the character who only hides behind that serious facade, and is fiercely protective of all those she loves.

During the second act, that devotion comes out when she bars Nixon with her body from Thibert's character to protect the younger woman.

There is a bond between Powers and Thibert that is visible on stage, and they engage each other like siblings would.

Like any "younger" sister, Thibert didn't understand the weight of what Powers' character faced until she experienced it firsthand during the group's research.

"We had a new appreciation for what people had to go through," Thibert said. "Sara was complaining about doing all these things and I was thinking, click a button."

The 14-year-old now understands more of what that life entailed, but she still plays Etta with the wide-eyed innocence of youth in a show that will not disappoint.

Check It Out

WHAT: "Going to See the Elephant," a play by Karen Hensel and Elana Kent, based on an idea by Patti Johns and characters created by Johns, Sylvia Meredith, Elizabeth Shaw and Laura Toffenetti.

WHEN: 8 p.m. June 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 24.

WHERE: Albany Civic Theater, 111 First Ave., downtown.

TICKETS: $10, or $7 for people over 60 and under 18. Tickets are available at Sid Stevens Jewelers in Albany, Rice's Pharmacy in Corvallis or the ACT Box office 45 minutes before curtain.

To view more photos from "Going to See the Elephant," go to our slide show at http://democratherald.com/shared-content/story_tools/slideshow/?type=slideshow&id=8.