SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Connecticut
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp Connecticut Review
Eclipsed
|
I ask you about your moda (mother), about your name
because you don't wont to lose dat, you must neva lose dat.
— Rita
|
Adepero Oduye, Stacey Sargeant, and Pascale Armand (seated) .
(Photo: Carol Rosegg)
|
Helena (Stacey Sargeant) Number 1, has been a wife the longest and rules the hut she shares with CO's other women: pregnant Bessie (Pascale Armand) who is Number 3, and the latest addition known only as The Girl, Number 4 (Adepero Oduye), a sensitive, "book-learned" woman recently brutalized by the CO. The Girl helps the women pass time by reading to them from a book about the life of President Bill Clinton. The reading sessions contain most of the play's humor, as the women idolize America's "big man" with a Number One wife Hillary and Number 2, Monica Lewinsky. In fact, Helena is so impressed with Clinton, she names her baby after him.
When Maima, Number 2 (Zainab Jah), who left to become a soldier, returns, the Girl follows her to escape life in the hut. Her soldier's gun, which the Girl initially believes will keep her safe, instead becomes an instrument of horror as she succumbs to the temptation of its power. Soon she finds herself reciting mindless rebel doctrine, killing villagers and rounding up their women for the flesh-hungry soldiers. She barely resembles the innocent girl who reminded peace worker Rita (Shona Tucker) of the daughter stolen from her. It's Rita who urges the women to remember their families and their given names so they will have some part of themselves left when the war ends.
Gurira's work is an interesting exploration of the victims of Liberia's war and was written in partnership with Princeton's McCarter Theatre Center as the result of a grant which allowed her to travel to Africa and interview survivors. The cast, under the direction of Liesl Tommy, produces some great ensemble acting against German Cardenas's stark hut and bush set lighted by Marcus Doshi. Music and sounds by Broken Chord Collective help enhance the mood.
Though the drama is compelling, the violence of war and rape feels somehow removed from the experience. We don't need to see more of it, necessarily, but it's hard to feel the depth of what the women are experiencing, the total eclipse of their persons without having more exposure to their lives before they disappear. They seem too well adjusted, not very afraid and not harmed or much disturbed by their sexual encounters with CO, except that they do wash their private areas following each rape. In addition there are times when it is difficult to decipher the heavily-accented dialogue (despite Beth McGuire's coaching) though I had the advantage of being there the day open captioning offered on a digital screen on the stage was provided for this run.
|
Eclipsed By Danai Gurira Directed by Liesl Tommy Cast: Pascale Armand (Bessie), Stacey Sargeant (Helena), Adepero Oduye (The Girl), Zainam Jah (Maima), Shona Tucker (Rita) Scenic Design: German Cardenas Costume Design: Elizabeth Barrett Groth Lighting Design: Marcus Doshi Sound Designer/Composer: Broken Chord Collective Fight Director: Rick Sordelet Vocal and Dialect Coach: Beth McGuire Running time: 2 hours with a 15 minute Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel Street, at York Street, New Haven Performances: Tuesdays at 8 pm, Wednesdays at 2 pm and 8 pm, Thursday and Friday at 8 pm, Saturdays at 4 pm and 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm.. Tickets are $35-67 and are available online at www.yalerep.org, by phone at (203) 432-1234, and in person at the Yale Rep Box Office (1120 Chapel Street, at York Street). Student, senior, and group rates are also available. Oct. 23-Nov. 14, 2009 Review by Lauren Yarger based on performance of Nov. 7, 2009 |
|
Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe,
E-mail:
 esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.comput SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. |
South Pacific
In the Heights
Playbill 2007-08 Yearbook
Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide
