One of theater's greatest gifts is its ability to introduce you to fascinating characters. Onstage at Cyrano's right now is a marvelous example: "A Woman By Design," the story of architect Mary Colter, written and performed by Alaska playwrights Elizabeth Ware and David Edgecombe.
The fascinating and largely untold story of "the architect of the Southwest" opened March 20 to an enthusiastic half-capacity house. Although Edgecombe pops in and out several times to play bit roles and voiceover effects create the illusion of conversation with other characters, this is in effect a one-woman show.
Ware's portrayal is as complex as her subject: droll, pointed, determined, dignified, at times vulnerable and occasionally profane. She plays the architect at several crucial life stages: uncertain young art student, self-taught architect at the peak of her powers and an 88-year-old facing the sale or demolition of some of her beloved projects.
Ware and Edgecombe spent months in Arizona studying Colter's work, reading whatever they could find about her, and interviewing people who knew the architect (who died in 1958) or had heard stories. The result is a fascinating character study -- the authors call it a "living history" -- of a woman who bucked the odds for five decades.
Colter was an acid-tongued perfectionist in a male-dominated field, a chain smoker who wore trousers and spoke her mind. This shocked many listeners in the first half of the 20th century -- male listeners in particular, especially those who tried to tell her she was doing it wrong.
"I knew what I wanted, and no goddamned sons of bitches were going to stand in my way," she declares, explaining that she had to learn to swear in order to get men to listen to her.
Ware paints her character as an artist determined to do justice to the Southwest landscape: "Not to overpower nature, but to become a kind of interpreter." Some credit the architect with creating the "National Park Service Rustic" style of decor: local stone, rough-hewn wood, exposed beams and the like.
She designed many of Grand Canyon National Park's structures, including Hopi House, The Lookout, Phantom Ranch, Hermit's Rest and the Bright Angel Lodge. The National Parks Conservation Association has referred to Colter as "the best-known unknown architect in the national parks."
What's amazing is that she got the job at all. Few women were architects when she took her first job in 1902, and she had no formal architectural training. In a short talk after the performance, Ware noted that Colter's design skills were grounded in her art education; the mechanics were apparently learned on job sites.
The architect began each design by creating an elaborate story about the site: aristocratic Spanish dons forced to sell their property, say, or a French-Canadian hermit who built a shelter of stacked rocks. This was as much for her own inspiration as for future visitors, but tourists ate it up.
That's Mary Colter in a nutshell, a woman who designed her life the way she dreamed it should be. Rather than be overpowered by societal strictures, she became an interpreter of what women might do if they were given a chance.
Donna Freedman is a former Daily News reporter and writes for Money Talks News.
A Woman by Design
When: March 27 and 29 and April 2, 4, 10 and 12
Where: Cyrano's, 413 D St.
Tickets: $23-$25, available at the door or at centertix.net (907-263-2787)