Experiment

My overall impression

This review first appeared in LA Weekly***

Running a taut 20 minutes, Melanie Wehrmacher’s play is exactly the right length for her slight yet compelling study of psychological torture. Two prisoners—one male, one female and each scarred and badly beaten—cower on the floor of a bare cell. Footsteps echo ominously, as does the intermittent tone of electrical torture followed by ghastly screams. Tensions run high as we observe this nervy pair unravel and turn on each other. Director Tamiko Washington nicely orchestrates the intensity while Alexa Giuffre and Sean Burgos each give convincing portrayals of pure anguish. It’s an intense work. by Pauline Adamek.