Play examines our fascination with pain

Wednesday, March 4, 1998

Play examines our fascination with pain

THEATER: Disturbing story dramatizes playwright Strindberg’s
tortured themes

By Sam Toussi

Daily Bruin Contributor

It seems that as a society we’ve become really sadistic. T.V.
shows such as "South Park" are great, but take a step back and
acknowledge the fact that the jokes are cruel and some of the
visuals are really disturbing. What’s really disturbing though, is
that we all find it funny. Somehow, at some time, other people’s
pain became funny. "Play Strindberg (without tears)" is a play that
seeks to capitalize on our sick amusement with other people’s
torture.

The title refers to the eternally tortured but revered Swedish
playwright August Strindberg and the play takes its cues from the
themes found in his work "Dance of Death." The "(without tears)"
part of the title lets the audience know that this pain will be
funny. Yet while the play proposes to be a comedy, you’d have to be
sadistic to find half the humor remotely humorous. You would have
to find an old man who is very sick a laugh riot.

Set on a remote Swedish island, we’ll presume, during
Strindberg’s lifetime, (again we’ll presume), the play revolves
around a husband and wife who hate each other with a passion, the
husband being an officer (Jack Heller), and the wife an actress of
no talent (Salome Jens). The officer is due to die any second, and
it doesn’t ruin the play to tell you that he dies in the end; the
whole play seems to be a death scene. The couple is visited by Kurt
(Richard Neil) whom their officer blames for the couple’s marriage.
The play turns into a battle between the three characters to see
which one will leave the stage alive and a winner.

Directed by Martin Magner, the play is set up as a boxing match
between three boxers and each scene is a "round." Magner is a very
experienced director and his talent comes through. There are no
flaws in his direction and the timing between the actors is on cue
for the most part.

The actors are gifted and well placed in their roles. Heller
takes a glee in the physical pain he endures and the mental pain he
inflicts on his wife. He plays that glee to perfection but he is
such a lush it is hard to sympathize with him. Add that to the fact
that he mentally abuses a woman and suddenly, you want him to
die.

Jens shows a great deal of depth as the wife who tolerates her
husband’s abuse only when he is watching. As soon as he turns his
back, she flies off the handle and it’s liberating to see her do
so, but the fact remains that she is imploring her husband to
die.

The character that becomes most detestable is that of Kurt. He
inflicts damage on both and becomes the villain for it. Neil
portrays the character well and for a while he is the voice of
reason until he starts to uncover his character slowly. Neil
reveals these awful layers in his character deftly, but is all the
more unlikable for it.

This isn’t to say that characters need to be likable. Some of
the greatest characters are severely flawed. Yet there needs to be
some semblance of a heart or a soul. In "South Park," every
character evokes some sympathy at one time and to top it off, it’s
a very superficial cartoon.

On stage, the characters in "Play Strindberg (without tears)"
are very real and tortured. Somehow, sadism doesn’t seem as funny
up close.

THEATER: "Play Strindberg (without tears)" runs through April 4
at the Marilyn Monroe Theatre, 7936 Santa Monica Blvd. Tickets are
$15, $12 for students and seniors. Call (213) 660-TKTS for more
information.

Marilyn Monroe Theatre

(left to right) Richard Neil, Jack Heller and Salome Jens star
in "Play Strindberg (without tears)."