Veteran Chicago actress Jen Engstrom can relate to the feelings of angst and being in a slight funk. After all, it is these feelings that she shares with parallel soulmate, Dorothy Parker, and that is why she developed and is starring in Men I'm Not Married to: the Words of Dorothy Parker.
"She was always able to sum it up right there with a very caustic, self-deprecating remark which put some people at ease and made other people laugh. It seems that she was trying not to evoke real sympathy from people," shares Engstrom. "I guess what I share in common with her is an understanding of the universal condition of longing of love, loneliness, all of that stuff."
Her one-woman show is receiving rave reviews. The Reader describes Engstrom's portrayal as "note-perfect ... . And unlike some interpreters of Parker, Engstrom fearlessly captures the rage, wit, and vulnerability of the characters." Here WCT captures Engstrom's personal views of Dorothy Parker —life, love and their philosophy of the Universe.
WCT: What characteristics do you share with Dorothy Parker?
JE: [ Laughs ] All of the bad ones.
WCT: You have to elaborate on that one.
JE: She was no stranger to a drink, to a smoke, to failing relationships. She had sort of a bittersweet relationship with men. She also had what some would call a pessimistic view of the world. She sort of felt as though the universe was never on her side and as much as she hoped and dreamed of quiet, stillness and a gentleman; there was always some crook in the system. She was a woman who was not happy and who wrote the most and the best when she was unhappy. It was said of her, and I think that it was Alexandra Wilcott, the racketeer and then the literary critic of the New York scene, "that bird only sings when she is unhappy." And it seemed to be true, a bulk of her work and the most beautiful, sentimental stuff she wrote, the most vulnerable and most exposing stuff that she wrote, was during the times of incredible pain, married to a morphine addict, herself developing a pretty serious alcohol addiction, finding herself pregnant by another man who was also married, and subsequently having an abortion. And she wrote, "that is what I get for putting all of my eggs into one bastard."
WCT: What characteristics do you not share?
JE: I'm not a writer. I'm certainly no where nearly as well read as she was; she devoured anything literate. And this is where the major difference is; she just killed at cocktail parties. I must say that she reduced people to shreds with one turn of her tongue. I think that she probably would have reduced me to tears. [ laughs ] . I am way too vulnerable and too much of an actress—too outwardly emotional.
WCT: Oscar Wilde comes to mind when you were discussing her, and I think that when we are in the public eye, it is easy to be self-defacing and to get away from the real sympathy.
JE: Yeah, absolutely.
WCT: How did the show develop?
JE: It really developed from me just loving a handful of her stories. I certainly did not set out to do a one-woman show. Nothing was happening to me as an actress, and I was waiting for the phone to ring. A friend had suggested that I pick up some Dorothy Parker and I was absolutely astounded by how contemporary it seemed. I tried to develop the material for auditions and somewhere it occurred to me that this could be my calling card. I wanted to communicate this writer's words. It took a good solid three years to summon the courage and find the right people to work on it.
WCT: How is it being different being in a solo show vs. ensemble acting?
JE: The biggest difference is actually doing the show. I have found that you have to be in your most Zen-like mindset because it is just you. If within the first 10 minutes you are thinking about the entire hill to climb than you are going to be stuck like a frightened rat in a room full of strangers.
WCT: You said that you developed it because you were looking for work. It seems that a lot of good Chicago productions are a result of Chicago actors creating their own work and they look to the theatre. Do you want to remain on stage or do you want to move to film?
JE: I see the two mixing. I love theater and right now, it is where I am the most comfortable. I've never been that comfortable on camera and I still am not and maybe that happened when I was in my early 20s auditioning for film work and there was this pressure to be beautiful, thin and perfect and for me it did not coincide with what I really wanted to do, which was to lift up the rock and see what was underneath it, for me that is what acting is. It is not looking perfect, it is not being glossy or saleable. It was about being truthful and honest. I sometimes envision myself as an older film actress when there is not the pressure to look like anything or be in any sort of genre.
WCT: But you are very attractive and you have the look? You are blond and thin. Why not capitalize on your looks?
JE: Thank you for saying that I am attractive, that is nice. But I am just not comfortable knowing that is what they are looking at and normally the minute I go into a camera audition I screw myself. I am not talking about good film or good TV. I'm talking about crest ads and vacuum cleaner ads. I didn't have the right attitude, frankly [ laughs ] .
WCT: Dorothy Parker was coming out early.
JE: Yeah, I was like, oh god, this is not what I am here for.
WCT: How did you get into acting?
JE: I was one of those over-sensitive children. I'm from Iowa and I grew up on a hog farm and moved from there when I was about 8 years old and my parents were young and both in school and I had a lot of time alone, a lot. I would venture to say that I was a bit neglected and as a result I craved attention. I also grew up in a very stoic Nordic family and emotions where not discussed and they certainly where not shown. I didn't start acting until I was about 18, but I always wanted to and I guess that I did privately, which is weird, I know, but I would go in my room and think of something really horrible and then just cry and be done with it and going 'this is sort of neat.' I probably needed the help of a child psychologist, but I probably would not be in this crazy business if someone had intervened.
WCT: I read online that you were in Flaming Guns at Columbia College. You played poor white trash and now you are playing Dorothy Parker, talk about versatility.
JE: I think that I am becoming a good ol' fashion character actress. I was never the ingenue, I was always Lady Caputlet, even when I was 16 years old. The bigger and more bizarre the character, the more comfortable it is for me. Although you usually have something of yourself in everything and playing white trash is certainly no stretch since I did grow up in Iowa on a hog farm and lived in a trailer park.
WCT: What is it like being in the burbs?
JE: The crowd couldn't be more receptive. They are screaming out for good theater and this is in no way departing any judgement on it at all, but most of the stuff is either Community Theater or musicals, and this show is different. It is the heart of Chicago theater out in Naperville, and I think that many people who live in the suburbs usually see the larger theater offerings—what is focused on in the press, and miss out on the little gems.
WCT: What is your favorite thing to do in Naperville?
JE: I haven't had the chance to really explore Naperville. I go to the theater and then back home, but they have a beautiful downtown area and a beautiful river walk. It is just a gorgeous little town.
WCT: Why is the show important to see?
JE: For me, it is all about Dorothy Parker. I love it when people want to know more about who she was. Some people have this vague notion of her being this drunken sour woman who just ripped off one liners. There really was a beautiful sentimental side of her that is so universal. She was an incredible, compassionate, and civil-rights oriented woman. She was very much a civil-rights activist—she left all of the rights to her literature to the NAACP.
WCT: Was there a gay or bisexual element to Dorothy Parker?
JE: Her second husband was pretty much well known to be a homosexual, but she pretty much denied it to herself. She was not homophobic or bisexual. Men really mystified her and nothing made her feel as unsafe as the rejection of a man that she loved.
