MINERS HOLD HEADS HIGH AS THEY `WALK ON KNEES'

Coalminers may spend most of their lives walking on their knees as they wrest a living from the bowels of the earth, but they walk with heads held high as they spend lives of loyalty and devotion to their families and each other.

And those involved in University Theatre's current production, "Walking on our Knees," which opens tonight at the Forrest H. Rose Theatre at Southeast Missouri State University, may certainly walk with head held proudly high for this superb piece of theatre.

Dr. Sharon Bebout, a member of the University Theatre staff, is both writer and director of this luminous drama that weaves folk music with individual and group vignettes narrated to show "what it's like to live a life with the coalmines as its center."

A coalminer's daughter reared in northwest Kentucky, Bebout offers a "privileged perspective" as she uses Sara Riley (played with a delicate balance of commentary and involvement by Shauna Thieman of Houston) to introduce us to her family and the people around whom she was reared.

Troy Young of Scott City appears strongly as Sara's Dad, of whom she was once ashamed because he made his living digging around in the dirt, but whom she later comes to appreciate for his qualities as a "real" father who took time to play with his children and instill in them the love of reading that led her into many different worlds.

Much of our insight into the miners' lives comes through the interaction of Dad and his best friend, Bill (well-interpreted by Jay Cross of Billings, Mont.), who was injured in the mine and now walks with an artificial leg; their memories and explanations of mine life range from bitterness to jovial recollections of pranks often played. (Tales of rats in the mines are both horrifying and hilarious.)

Many of their memories are shared by slightly younger David (sturdily enacted by Scott Hamann of St. Peters) whose experiences include many a brush with death overwhelmed by Life. And an even more different view is presented by Jimmy (done with considerable passion by Alden Field of Sikeston), who's had "personality conflicts" with supervisors and has come to hate miners' lives, even though he, too, was born to the mines.

Women face other problems with coalmining, both as miners themselves and as members of miners' families. As miners, they face not only the sheer physical challenges of the work, but also the rejection of male miners and the reservations of and fears for their own families and each meets these problems in her own way.

There is Bill's wife, June (played with gentleness and depth by Amy Monfort of Kirkwood), who shares her husband's agony of having lost his leg but also understands and shares his affinity for his fellow-miners.

There is Bell, a young black woman, also a miner's daughter, who knows full well the men don't like having women in the mines; her determination to do her job and do it well, no matter what, are eloquently portrayed by Sabrina Robinson of Malden.

The Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), skillfully played by Jennifer Cooper of North County, is frustrated by her job but knows that the time she spends listening to miners talk about themselves is just as important as the aspirin, bandages, and first aid she dispenses.

And there's Phyllis, (played with dignity and depth by Ann Ruggiero of Cape Girardeau), middle-aged, who was terrified when she first started working underground but now is a "shooter" working with explosives and loves every minute of it.

Both Cooper and Ruggiero double in other roles as well roles that are central to one of the most important elements of this "performed ethnography" and our understanding of its meaning.

One character never seen in the play is Sara's brother, John Riley, who is killed in a crushing accident at the age of 20. We meet him, however, through the words of Cooper, a neighbor who knew him as a kind, happy young man, and who is determined to help preserve his memory.

We meet him, too, through the words of Sara, as she examines an old photography album and her memories of the happy times she and her brother spent together.

And, in a different way, we meet him through pantomime, as Dad (Young) and his mother (Ruggiero) show their quiet grief at his death.

Sara hates the mines because they've robbed her of her brother, and, partly, of her father, who has never been quite the same since John's death. But she's learned the profound truth that life is tenuous and uncertain, and that it's important to let people know you love them at every opportunity for the next moment they may be gone. And she's learned to treasure the happy memories, for they can never be taken away.

Integral to the mood and meaning of "Walking on our Knees" is the music provided by Brian Driscoll of Cape Girardeau (guitar and vocals) and Jeannette Driscoll of Cape Girardeau (vocals). From the familiar "Sixteen Tons" and Woody Guthrie's "Talking Miner," through "Dark as a Dungeon," "Dream of a Miner's Child," "Hard Times," and Brian's own composition, "One Day's Pay," the depth of the mines and the emotions of those whose lives they touch are quietly emphasized.

Dennis C. Seyer, scenic and lighting designer and technical director, along with dozens of students on various crews, have come as close as possible to create the ultimate, implacable darkness of the coal mine that blackness from which emanates so much light and joy even to the moment-by-moment face of tragedy.

The wisps of music, the glimpses of courage and acceptance, the glow of mutual love and dependence among a group of individuals so disparate yet so alike will be treasured memories for theatergoers for many years to come.

"Walking on our Knees" will be presented again Saturday night, and Feb. 24, 25, 26, 27, at 8 p.m. It's well-worth walking through the snow to embrace, should nature so decree.