My overall impression
The Conduct of Life by Maria Irene Fornes. Review by Mayank Keshaviah.
*This review first appeared on www.stageraw.com*
http://stageraw.com/2014/06/11/conduct-of-life-thistle-and-weeds/
In an unidentified country, ambitious military officer Orlando (Robert Homer Mollohan) wants to “achieve maximum power.” His sensitive wife Leticia (Karina Wolfe) wants to “be a woman who speaks in a group and have everybody listen.” But she won’t stand up to him, even once she becomes aware of Nena (Emily Yetter), the young girl that Orlando keeps and rapes in the basement. Orlando’s colleague Alejo (Jeremy Mascia) impotently wonders if “anybody can change anything.” He, too, fails to speak up against the torture he and Orlando perpetrate against the government’s enemies. It is finally Orlando and Leticia’s maid Olimpia (Belinda Gosbee) who even attempts to stand up to Orlando and protect Nena. Yet even she only has limited success in doing either.
Maria Irene Fornes’s Obie award-winning 1985 play about cruelty and power remains as resonant today as when it was written. Despite the tiny space and less-than-ideal use of work lights, director Sabina Ptasznik stages the piece with a ferocity and nuance that communicates both the horror of violence and our tacit acceptance of it. Mollohan radiates Orlando’s rage (even if not his pain), Wolfe skillfully balances Leticia’s cool exterior and her petrifying insecurity, and Yetter’s portrayal of Nena’s innocence is heartbreaking.
