By now the confrontational dance of abused and abuser is almost a dramatic cliche - in this case, Una (Alison Pill, exceptional) corners Ray (Jeff Daniels, staggering) in his workplace and forces him to deal with the lingering damage of their sexual relationship (which ended when he was forty and she was twelve). He served time, changed his name and is terrified that she's tracked him down; she's a walking, rageful wound, desperate for closure. We've seen this dance before, but rarely with the force and the impact of David Harrower's stunning, psychologically astute play, which shrewdly plays tricks on the audience's sympathies before its jolting final scenes. Although it's unlikely to be as popular, partly due to its ugliness and its graphic content (I counted six walkouts at the performance I saw, attention: David Bell!), theatregoers are going to be talking about this play as they did with Doubt, debating what *really* happened. You'll hear some praise about how Harrower has written shades of gray into the situation. That's only true up to a point; for me, while open to many nuances of interpretation, this brilliant play is ultimately a grim reminder of the life-long reach of abuse. It's the best and most riveting new play I've seen so far this year.
4 comments:
Very well said. The issues at hand is time-worn, but this is a completely new take. It's not pretty or easy, but it was 90 minutes of the most riveting theater I've seen this season. Alison Pill is going to be a star.
Did anyone walk out when you saw it? The first walk-out at our perf (let's call him Fuss E. McAscot) made a big production out of his disgust, very loudly stomping down the aisle and slamming the door behind him.
Wasn't Fuss E. McAscot the same guy who stormed out of Dying City and Defender Of The Faith??
At Defender the only walk-outs I saw were by Whiskey O'Raincoat, who was first and loudest, Mr. and Mrs. Gravefoot, and Lady McSilkscarf, who had to tiptoe past the actors on stage. Good times.
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