‘Death and the Maiden’ is taut
thriller
By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer
"I found the characters trying to
figure out the sort of questions that so many Chileans were asking
themselves privately, but that hardly anyone seemed interested in posing
in public. How can those who tortured and those who were tortured
coexist in the same land? . . . And how do you reach the truth if lying
has become a habit?" playwright Ariel Dorfman wrote about his award
winning play "Death and the Maiden."
Laine Satterfield and Arthur
Glen Hughes battle for survival in "Death and the Maiden" that opens
Wednesday night at the Liberty Theater in Hailey. Photo by Kirsten
Shultz
The Company of Fools presents this
riveting political thriller next week at the Liberty Theater in Hailey.
It features Laine Satterfield,
Arthur Glen Hughes and Gordon Reinhart, and is directed by Company of
Fools Artistic Director Rusty Wilson.
"As a piece of on-going
entertainment, it’s got all the elements of a great story," Wilson said.
"It’s taut and tense, compact."
The play runs Wednesday, April 14,
through Saturday, April 24, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, April 18 and 25 at 3
p.m.
It hits on issues of global human
rights but at the same time is very much about individual choices,
Wilson added. He said the company had been looking at doing the play for
a few years.
"Now, seemed like the appropriate
time, given world events," he said. "It’s just as relevant if not more
so. It’s the crafted essence of truth."
The story conceivably takes place
in a South American country, most probably Chile. (Dorfman, a Chilean,
was exiled during the coup in 1973).
As the story opens Paulina, the
wife of a lawyer who has been appointed to investigate the past regime's
human rights crimes, hears a voice she recognizes as that of the
government official who repeatedly raped and tortured her while she was
blindfolded 17 years ago. The voice belongs to that of a man her husband
has invited home after car trouble near their secluded home. This man is
now in her home having a drink with her husband. But is it actually him
or does she just need a scapegoat?
She physically restrains the man
and accuses him of being her tormenter. He denies it and appeals to the
husband for help.
Her husband, played by Boise actor
and director Reinhart, is not just the unwitting observer of his wife’s
actions, his profession often guides his actions.
"I have to save my wife’s soul,"
he said. "But the great conflict in the play—for my character—is that as
a lawyer I need to defend the man who may have raped and tortured my
wife. Every character has a strong argument."
In fact, it’s the arguments that
make for the roller coaster thrill ride. Is he or isn’t he? And will she
kill him without knowing for sure? Are they all prisoners of their
pasts?
"It’s challenging, rich, and
loaded," said Satterfield, who plays Paulina. "The relationship with the
husband and wife is complicated. It’s all under the surface. They didn’t
speak about the kidnapping for years. They’ve been living in a world of
avoidance."
Reinhart agrees. "As a human being
it’s interesting despite the fact that this man has done terrible
things. My character is an example of people who went through that at
the time."
In fact, he is the Dorfman
character. The man outside looking in, perhaps with a touch of
survivor’s guilt. And what of the alleged torturer, now trussed up,
vulnerable but unrepentant?
"He realizes he is in a world of
hurt," Hughes, a long time Boise theater professional, said. "He thinks
the husband, as a lawyer, is the voice of reason and justice."
Hughes’ character never backs
down. He refuses to give her what she wants. After all, it may mean
death. As the tables turn, "Everything is intensified," he said.
"Victims don’t forget. But my character has also been living with what
he did. I have to say maybe even missing it."
Yes, power is the fourth character
in the play. As the cat and mouse game heightens, power shifts
constantly. No one is a white knight. "Death and the Maiden" is a work
that embraces the good and bad, past and present, forgiveness and
justice.
Tickets for the show are available
through the Company of Fools box office at 578-9122 or
Ticketweb.com.
It’s previously played on the road
in a 10-day run in Boise at the Fulton Street Theatre and a four-day run
in Moscow at the Kenworthy Theater.