Review: Three Hostages and a Captive Audience

Someone Who'll Watch Over Me

Written by Frank McGuinness, Directed by A. Nora Long; Stage Manager, Cat Meilus; Assistant Stage Manager, Ally Hasselback; Costume Designer, Cara Chiaramonte; Dialect Coach, Crystal Lisbon; Lighting Designer, Ida Aronson; Scenic Designer, Shelley Barish; Sound Designer, Andrew Duncan Will; Technical Director, Kevin Deane Parker; Makeup Consultant, Kendra Long

CAST: Greg Balla, Edward; Sheldon Brown, Adam; Jeff Mahoney, Michael

Performances through November 16 by Bad Habit Productions at Deane Hall, Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, MA; Box Office 617-933-8600 or www.badhabitproductions.org

The original title for his 1992 play Someone Who'll Watch Over Me was There was an Englishman, an Irishman and an American, but playwright Frank McGuinness ditched it because it sounded lame. Considering that it comes across like the opening line of an old joke, it was probably a good decision, even though humor is an important theme running through this intense drama. Three men of the aforementioned nationalities are held hostage in a cramped cell in Beirut, Lebanon, where they learn that their survival depends upon unity, and humor is both a weapon and a shield against their unseen captors.

Someone Who'll Watch Over Me is the second show of Bad Habit Productions' season seven, entitled "Ambition & Sacrifice." The play runs two hours without intermission and, staged in the intimate Deane Hall at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, with dim lighting and the sound of a cell door slamming shut at the start, gives new meaning to the term captive audience. While we may be glued to our seats, Sheldon Brown (Adam, an American doctor), Greg Balla (Edward, an Irish journalist), and Jeff Mahoney (Michael, an English academic) are chained to the set and to each other, obliging them to perform as a well-choreographed trio.

Director A. Nora Long's choice to chain the actors together increases their physical dependence, even as it broadens the metaphor of the characters' psychological dependence on each other. It serves as a comforting connection and as a constant reminder of their total lack of freedom. However, Adam, Edward, and Michael refuse to let their imaginations be imprisoned, and pass the time by shooting imaginary films, drinking imaginary cocktails, and playing a fantasy tennis match. They share reminiscences of the things they've lost in their lives and plan sightseeing trips when they visit each other's countries in the future. These fantasies provide a fun diversion, but are achingly difficult to sustain because reality closely surrounds them in their claustrophobic little cell.

While the action is limited, there is surprisingly a lot of moving about Shelley Barish's cold, gray platform set, especially when Adam or Edward chooses to exercise, partly to maintain their strength and partly to ward off the interminable boredom. McGuinness writes their tedium into the script and Long effectively draws out the scenes where nothing much happens. Suddenly, the actors strike a pose as if they've heard something going on outside the cell; or we'll hear the workings of the cell door opening and a broad swath of light shines in on them. Sound Designer Andrew Duncan Will and Lighting Designer Ida Aronson are responsible for making us feel the presence of the captors even though we never see them. The soiled, grungy shorts, t-shirts, and socks that Costume Designer Cara Chiaramonte clothes the prisoners in serve to further dehumanize them and imply that they've been held for a long period of time.

Brown is actually sitting on the floor wearing a blindfold as the audience arrives in the hall, raising the question of just how long this prisoner has been held. When the play starts, Balla is the next to stumble in and their two characters spend time getting to know each other. Adam is the strong, silent type, devotedly exercising or reading the Bible, while Edward is a wisecracker. Mahoney gets thrown in to the mix after the other two have been together for a couple of months. Michael breaks down crying until they help him acclimate to the situation. The Irish-English rivalry creates challenges, but they all gradually come around to watching over each other.

With the help of the designers and the excellent work of Dialect Coach Crystal Lisbon, Brown, Balla, and Mahoney inhabit their characters, creating an authentic tableau. Their performances are absorbing from start to finish, each hitting the emotional highs and lows on the nose. The play itself goes on a little long, and, although the conditions they endure are horrific, it is not as much moving as it is riveting. Watching the actors watch each other provides tremendous insight into their process and parallels the connection forged among the three captives. They are all in this together and their artistic achievement depends upon it.

Photo credit: Bad Habit Productions (Jeff Mahoney, Greg Balla)

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