DEATH AND THE MAIDEN
Review
by the Tolucan Times - November 5, 2008
By
Beth Temkin
“Death and The Maiden,” written by Ariel Dorfman, with skillful direction by Dado, is a superb production.
Enci as Paulina and Benton Jennings as Dr. Robert Miranda in “Death and the Maiden.”Set in a beach house with an open door, curtain blowing (set design by Danuta Tomzynski), and waves crashing, the action ensues. First-rate sound effects by Bob Rokos include off-stage vehicles arriving and departing.
In a country new to democracy, Gerard, the lawyer husband, (Eric Curtis Johnson) has just accepted an offer by the new president to head an investigative commission of criminal offenses under the old regime.
A neighbor, Dr. Miranda, (Benton Jennings) has helped Girard by loaning him a jack for his flat tire, and when he later knocks on the door to congratulate Gerard on his appointment, being dead tired, he’s asked to spend the night. In the dark, a body is dragged from the bedroom into the front room, tied and gagged by Paulina. 15 years ago, Gerard’s wife Paulina (Enci) had been tortured and raped, and crazed with pent-up rage, is convinced that Miranda was the doctor in charge of her torture. She identifies his smell, his voice, and finds in his car a CD of Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden,” music played as she was being tortured. Choking and miserable, protesting he has nothing to confess, Paulina continues to threaten him at gun point. Late in the second act, in a chilling spotlighted monologue Miranda tells that although he began with humanitarian motives, he soon began to enjoy his work to see how much pain someone could endure.
“Death and The Maiden” presented by the Skypilot Theatre Company, is at the Sidewalk Studio Theatre in Burbank. Performances: Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m., ending December 21. Tickets: $20.00. For tickets: www.SkyPilotTheatre.com. Ample street parking.
|
|
