SCORCHED Moves Audiences Now Through March 11th

Provocative. If there was one word to describe this show it would be that; provocative.  A.C.T.’s Scorched is a bizarre and powerful look into the repercussions of a drawn out war and how it changed lives in the past, as well as its continued effect on the lives of the living.  Written by Wajdi Mouawad and translated by Linda Gaboriau, Scorched is seemingly directed with ease by Carey Perloff who brings this complex tapestry of different people together in a way that everyone can understand.

We begin in Canada with notary Alphonse Lebel, played by acclaimed actor David Strathairn, who is reading the last will and testament of Nawal Marwan to her twin children, Janine and Simon.  Because the play goes back and forth through time, 14 to 40-year-old Nawal is played by Marjan Neshat and 60-year-old Nawal is played by Jacqueline Antarmian. Her twin children, Janine and Simon, are played by Annie Purcell and Babak Tafti respectively. 

Their mother’s final wishes turn out to be a bit out of the ordinary.  For one, she asks them to bury her corpse naked in a hole, face down, with no coffin, tombstone and no name. As well, Janine is given a sealed letter to give to her father, whom the siblings thought to be dead; and Simon is handed a sealed letter to give to his brother, whom the siblings never knew existed.

Believing these to be the ravings of a mad woman (Nawal has refused to speak to anyone for the past five years) Simon dismisses these wishes while Janine decides to do as her mother asks.  Throughout the show we see flashbacks of Nawal’s life as a young girl experiencing the pain of living in war-torn Lebanon.  This is expertly intertwined with the twin’s present journey as they unravel the horrible truth they never knew.

As you walk into the theatre you see the set by Scott Bradley in its seeming simplicity.  As the show progresses a white scrim is raised to reveal the bulk of the set; two war torn buildings that once were beautiful.  Bradley utilizes every piece to create the many different locations needed and raises and lowers levels in a way that is elegantly simple.  He transports us swiftly from the present to the past with help from the amazing lighting design by Russell H. Champa.  The contrast between the scenes is a pleasure to watch and his use of shadows and darkness intermingled with the projection design by Alexander V. Nichols is done with purpose.

David Stratharin plays Lebel with a kind of nervous banter and a quirky strength that he plays perfectly.  Lebel is the small comic relief and he is one of those characters we know will grow up to be “that old guy who likes to tell long stories” and, although pedantic at times, it is superbly done.

Omoze Idehenre plays young Nawal’s friend Sawda magnificently as they travel together to try and find Nawal’s son who was taken from her at birth.  They are both rebels and a horrific scene in which their friends are burned alive in their underground newspaper is extremely powerful.  Idehenre’s mournful song at the death and destruction is hauntingly beautiful and is filled with the despair that war inevitably brings.  Both Idehenre and Neshat play off each other well and Nawal’s plea to Sawda saying, “You can’t add to the monstrous accumulation of pain” is a moving and powerful message.

During the show we encounter many different characters played by only a handful of people.  Apollo Dukakis, who shape shifts effortlessly between woman and man, melds into his characters with conviction and at first glance I thought his Nazira was just a gruff old woman!

Manoel Felciano (A.C.T. core acting member) plays four characters including a militiaman (who could have been more militaristic in voice and body) and a photographer who is murdered point blank by a sniper.

Sniper Nihad (A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program graduate Nick Gabriel) murders innocent people and takes their picture for his art, his poetry.  With projections of actual shooting victims blended together with the actor shooting simultaneously, it is very powerful and is even more gut wrenching as shooter Nihad happily listens to 80’s-type music as he commits his crimes.

Without giving away any more, this show is a thriller in every sense of the word.  The methodic pacing and expert lighting serve to make evident the present day reality of violence portrayed by the cast.  Director Carey Perloff brilliantly put the pieces of this puzzle together and his smooth staging drew the locations of the past and present together like they were just meant to be that way.

This is, however, not a happy or uplifting play.  With lines like, “childhood is a knife stuck in the throat” and a storyline filled with twists and horrifying realities, you can’t help but feel the tension deep down inside.  Scorched does what real theatre was meant to do - move you deeply and at the same time make you think.  Its aim is not just to tell a riveting story, but to involve the audience deeply in that story.  The play is dramatic in and of itself and the lighting, set design, direction, and talent used to portray it is what people have come to expect from A.C.T. – powerful and compelling theatre.

Written by Nick hodges

SCORCHED
Written by Wajdi Mouawad
Translated by Linda Gaboriau
Directed by Carey Perloff
A.C.T.
www.act-sf.org
February 16 - March 11, 2012
Photo courtesy of Kevin Berne

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