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Produced & Maintained by Idaho Mountain Express, Box 1013, Ketchum, ID 83340-1013 
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Copyright © 2003 Express Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 


Wednesday, April 7, 2004

Arts and Entertainment

‘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.


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The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.





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