The Treatment: Acts of Patriotism?

Eve Ensler is writing about bodies again, but not in her usual way.  The playwright most famous for The Vagina Monologues, who appeared on Broadway two seasons ago in her solo piece, The Good Body, now offers The Treatment, a gripping and provocative two-character play, expertly produced by The Culture Project, about the psychological aftermath of performing cruel acts in the service of one's country.

You may think you know what she's really writing about, but Ensler makes sure there is no direct connection between the situation in her play and any actual events.  The characters have no names except "man" and "woman."  No proper names are used to identify anyone they mention.  No time or place is indicated.  Although they are both in the military, there are no emblems to identify any one country anywhere on the stage.  Ensler is not accusing any specific person or nation of wrongdoing.  This is a play about what any of us may be capable of doing.

There is intentionally very little character development in this drum-tight seventy minute piece, and describing the plot in any amount of detail would give away too much.  Dylan McDermott plays an army sergeant undergoing psychiatric treatment from a major played by Portia.  He's been severely effected by his own actions in dealing with foreign prisoners during wartime, but although he freely committed one particularly brutal deed, Ensler emphasizes the dehumanizing conditions under which soldiers can improvise horrible acts they could never imagine doing as civilians.  Are they truly responsible for their actions under such conditions?

Giving the title a double meaning, Ensler draws interesting parallels between the sergeant's treatment of his prisoners and the doctor's treatment of her patent.  The playwright ends at a point that could certainly lead to a second act, but instead she leaves us to ponder and, hopefully, discuss.

Director Leigh Silverman draws two sterling performances from her cast.  McDermott is high-strung and noticeably edgy right from the start, but never in a way that compromises believability.  At times his vulnerability is so pitiable it's difficult to watch.  Portia stays unobtrusive early on, as her character tries to gently gain her patient's confidence, but as more information is revealed she internally battles her own emotional involvement.  What starts as verbal ping-pong as she tries to gain information and he tries to stay emotionally closed gradually turns dangerously explosive.

The 2006-07 theatre season may now begin its must-see list.

Photos of Dylan McDermott and Portia by Bruce Glikas

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