CAROLINE'S CORNER: `EVERYMAN' A SURPRISE FOR EVERYONE

Players of the 15th century would surely be shocked to learn that Everyman is a woman. Last weekend, Southeast Missouri State University Theatre presented the late-l5th-century English play at Old St. Vincent's Church.

The church was the perfect setting for the play. With a little imagination, I could fancy myself in some great cathedral in England.

"Summoned by Death, Everyman can persuade none of her friends - Beauty, Kindred, Worldly Goods, Knowledge, Beauty Strength, Discretion or Five-Wits to accompany her on the journey. Only Good Deeds stands by her to the end."

Brooke Hildebrand was extraordinary as Everyman. Her ability to show utter dejection as each friend refused to accompany her on the journey was remarkable.

If only the playwrights and players of 15th century England could see us now! There were no actresses then. In dramas of the time, boys whose bodies were still half-formed and whose voices were still soprano took the roles of women. Those earlier Englishmen would be taken aback to see that not only was Everyman a woman, but so was God. Amy Jo Diebold played the role convincingly. Gender was irrelevant in the role.

London playhouses of the period were amphitheaters, open at the top. Thus the theater season was summer and performances were in the afternoon in fair weather.

Rather than a restrained evening gathering, the mood of the audience was that of an outdoor circus crowd. Neither gentlemen of culture nor ladies patronized the plays.

Everyman is the most effective and artistic example of the union of pulpit and stage of the early moral play. It is not typical of morality plays of the period because of its lack of comic realism. Characters in other plays entertained the audience with their antics.

The art of dying like a repentant Christian is the central theme of Everyman. The old adage, "You can't take it with you," is fully developed.

When Everyman implores Goods to accompany her on the trip, she answers, "I sing another song. I follow no man in such voyages."

Kindred refuses to go, but she does offer her maid with "all her heart."

Strength tells her she is old enough to make the pilgrimage alone.

Beauty says, "I will smother in the grave."

One by one friends leave, and Everyman (or Woman) is abandoned by all except Good Deeds.

As Boulware and I left the church, three ladies were getting into their car to leave. Boulware asked if they needed help and gallantly checked to make sure they were safely tucked into their car as he closed doors all around.

"Those ladies must think you really took Everywoman seriously," I informed the chivalrous one. "They don't know you would have helped them before you saw the play. They are surely relieved the play wasn't "Bad Deeds in the Parking Lot."