'American Psychos'
Billed as 'three darkly brilliant plays exploring the violence and evil
underpinning everyday life', I wasn't expecting an easy night of light
entertainment from this production at the Burton Taylor Theatre. Easy
watching it certainly isn't - but if you're ready for a challenging, compelling
and superbly acted trio of short plays you shouldn't miss Bash.
The violence and evil are all in the telling. All three pieces are set
in a confessional mode, as apparently conventional individuals relate
the shocking crimes each has committed. An unsettling sense of intimacy
is created, both physically - this is a tiny venue - and dramatically,
as the actors address us directly and cast us in the role of the hotel
room strangers or police officers to whom they are unburdening their souls.
The knowledge that all three stories, which initially appear so quotidian,
will end in dark, taboo acts creates considerable tension as the narrative
slowly unfolds. No action, few props, just words - which fascinate and
appal us in equal measure.
The first play - Iphigenia in Orem - is a monologue delivered by Ilan
Goodman's successful white collar manager. Like all four actors he captures
excellently the pace and cadences of conversational American. His evocation
of cutthroat, 'greed is good' 1980s capitalism alongside the banalities
of domestic life is part David Mamet, part Raymond Carver; the inhumanity
of his act is directly linked to an uncaring, vicious corporate world
in the most political of the pieces.
The second - a duologue with Gethin Anthony and Olivia Gant - is more
Brett Easton Ellis territory: handsome preppy types whose fascination
with surfaces - and preponsity for trite religious and romantic sentiment
- conceals repulsive prejudice and callousness. The third, Medea Redux,
is a monologue which thematically echoes the first play. Polly Findlay's
performance as a spurned teenage mother is the most moving and sympathetic
of the evening.
This is a production that will make you think - not least about the causes
of crime, and about the violence constantly present in the news. The (remarkably
topical) opening and closing pieces, by giving a human face to the 'evil
monsters' of tabloid headlines, make for troubling viewing. Perhaps we
are all capable of atrocious acts - crimes of passion, selfishness, hatred,
or casual indifference.
A powerful work, strongly recommended.
George Tew, 20.01.04
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