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nj arts maven
.
 Torture.
The very word conjures up images of water boarding, sleep
deprivation—even having one’s body stretched on the rack—but in
Christopher Durang’s Why
Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them(isn’t that a
nonsequitur?), beautiful young Felicity’s torture consists of
waking up after a drunken night of sex to find herself wed to a
man who might be a terrorist and being a member of a very weird
family where no conversation “ever progresses in a linear way.”
This demented satire is given a madcap, appropriately
off-the-wall production by The Theater Project, Union County
College’s professional theater company, where it runs through
August 1.
When Felicity awakens in a motel room to find herself in bed
with a stranger named Zamir—a man with a violent temper who
threatens her whenever she talks about annulment or crosses him
in any way—she immediately returns to her parents’ home, hoping
that they can get her out of this pickle. Unfortunately, neither
Luella nor Leonard, a k a mother and father, have much interest
in helping their daughter. To deal with her empty life, clueless
Luella talks nonstop about the theater; she repeats the same
lines over and over ad nauseum, driving Felicity mad. Presumed
butterfly collector Leonard—anti-UN, anti-the French and a fan
of “enhanced rendition”—is part of a U.S. shadow government
planning a coup, complete with code names, secret meetings and
an arsenal of assault rifles. When Leonard “captures” Zamir and
proceeds to torture him to get information, Felicity finds
herself on her husband’s side; even if she doesn’t love him, she
can’t stand by and watch him being tortured. She has to do something.
No plot summary can do justice to a Durang play; one has to
experience the onstage mayhem to get a handle on the
playwright’s targets. This production couldn’t have come at a
better time, what with the very recent Russian spy caper and the
arrest of three Al Queda jihadists in, of all places, Norway!
The vociferous defense of water boarding mounted by former VP
Dick Cheney and various right wing wingnuts makes Torture the
right play for the right time.
Director Mark Spina keeps this wackiness purring along at a good
clip, which is good given the numerous scene changes. He’s
assembled a terrific cast too. Meghan Murray is appropriately
outraged as the lovely Felicity; her exasperation at all points
in the action is palpable. As Luella, the fabulous Harriett
Trangucci has the uncanny ability to utter the most ridiculous
dialogue with a straight face; her wide eyes and slightly manic
smile telegraph the woman’s cluelessness (“Normal is a conundrum
for me,” she says) and Durang’s poking satiric fun at citizens
who hide their heads in the sand from any form of turmoil,
personal or political. Gary Glor’s off-the-wall Leonard matches
her performance, as he interacts with his two compatriots,
Scooby-doo and Mr. Loony Tunes, spouts conspiracy theories as
though they are true (albeit with a demented look in his eyes)
and tortures Zamir to get information about a coming attack.
Phil E. Eichinger as Zamir is more scary than hilarious, at
least until we learn the truth about his background. He bounces
from pseudo-charming to violent in the blink of an eye (“I’m the
husband, Shut up,” he tells Felicity), and his accent is totally
believable. Noreen Farley’s goofy Hildegarde (Scooby-doo) will
have you holding your sides as she struggles with a pair of
wandering underpants and tries to keep her affections for
Leonard under control. “This cloak-and-dagger stuff makes me
giddy,” she says. The cast is rounded out by a very good David
C. Neal as the pornographer-minister who performed Felicity and
Zamir’s marriage ceremony and the multi-talented Kevin Melendez
as The Voice, a waiter, Mr. Loony Tunes (complete with an Elmer
Fudd-like delivery) and a lounge singer.
Fine production values are provided by Victoria Depew’s costumes
(get a load of the suit worn by Zamir and the wrap dresses
Luella dons—the same style in various colors to match her mood),
Mark Reilly’s lighting design, Mike Magnifico’s sound and Tom
Rowe’s interesting set that uses fold-out mini-sets to extend
the playing space with very little fuss and backdrops projected
on the back wall of the stage to suggest various venues.
Why Torture Is Wrong and the People Who Love Them takes
as its subject the propensity for violence that seems to be
coded in the masculine psyche—jihadist or American “patriot.”
Neither American nor Arabic men are spared criticism of their
treatment of women or brutal methods of persuasion.
Durang’s genius lies in letting us laugh cathartically at the
absurdity of his characters’ behavior, enabling us to shed the
anger, fear and helpless indignation we feel when reading or
watching the world news. Catharsis. It’s what classical Greek
dramatists strove for. Congratulations to Christopher Durang for
achieving that high end in this play, and thank you to The
Theater Project for allowing us to participate in the
experience.
Why Torture Is Wrong and the People Who Love Them will
be performed in the Roy Smith Theater at the Cranford campus of
Union County College, 1033 Springfield Avenue. Performance times
are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sunday matinees
at 3 PM. Tickets range from $10–25 and can be reserved by
contacting Brown Paper Tickets either online athttp://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/115853 or
by telephone at 800.838.3006. Information is also available athttp://www.thetheaterproject.org/.
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