A List
11/3/03

ADAPTATION OF NOVEL 'TOUCHED' TO BE STAGED AT ST. LAWRENCE

CANTON – An adaptation of Scott Campbell's novel Touched, written and 
directed by St. Lawrence University Associate Professor of Speech and Theatre 
Kirk Fuoss, will be performed Wednesday through Saturday, November 5 through 
8, at 8 p.m. each evening in the Edson R. Miles Blackbox Theatre, Griffiths 
Arts Center. The event is open to the public, free of charge; however, the 
production deals with subject matter that is appropriate only for mature 
audiences.
	When 12-year-old Robbie Young tells his mother that a neighbor has 
been "touching" him, the seemingly tranquil lives of two families are 
irrevocably altered.  Touched addresses the important issue of child sexual 
abuse from four distinct and haunting points of view: Linda Young, Robbie's 
mother; Jerry Houseman, a pedophile; Jeanette Houseman, his wife; and Robbie 
Young, the victim, 15 years removed from the experience. 
	Fuoss worked with author Campbell on the adaptation, which he says 
maintains the narrative structure of the novel. "Unlike the dramatic mode 
where audiences usually witness events unfolding in a fictionalized 'now' 
without the mediating influence of a narrating voice," Fuoss says, "in the 
narrative mode, the 'now' of the storytelling relationship between the narrator 
and the audience takes precedence over the 'now' of the past events that are 
recounted. For me, the essence of narrative lies in this duality of time 
and the fact that what is told has been mediated, filtered, worked over by 
the twin forces of time and the consciousness of the narrating agent. It 
is this filtering, I maintain, that differentiates the artistry of Scott 
Campbell's Touched from the sensationalism of a made-for-TV docudrama, 
shifting the focus from the sexual acts that occurred to the conflicted 
processes people deploy to make sense of and deal with those acts."
	As part of his research in writing the adaptation, Fuoss also 
interviewed local counselors and service providers. 
	For more information, contact the speech and theatre department 
at 315-229-5192.

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