My overall impression
Originally posted in Bitter Lemons: “Fringe Femmes” | “Conduct of Life” by Maria Irene Fornes |
“There’s something malignant in the world.” Oh, yeah, there is.
In Maria Irene Fornes’ award-winning 1985 Conduct of Life, mounted in a stunning Hollywood Fringe revival by The Vagrancy, it’s not just the terrifying, animalistic soldier Orlando (Robert Homer Mollohan) – although he’s the one who, ironically, makes the statement. It’s also the frightened, prey-like characters who surround him and are complicit in his ongoing brutality, made worse under the cover of normalcy.
Director Sabina Ptasznik doesn’t miss a nuance or opportunity for an explosion in this powerful production; she and her five superb actors mine the rich material for all its worth and reach incredible places through Fornes’ heightened language. The other characters prowling around Orlando’s villa in an un-named, war-torn country are his stylish wife (Karina Wolf), all-knowing maid (Belinda Gosbee), impotent comrade (Alejo) and, lest we forget, the girl Orlando keeps in the basement (Emily Yetter). Life goes on, and we all do what we do, huh?
There are no attempts to downplay the sexual violence and psychological terror onstage – we in the audience watch and feel and sometimes even laugh at the absurdity. Gripping design elements including sound by Martin Carillo and Ric Zimmerman’s lighting add another menacing layer. Here, hopelessness is just as palpable as the rage seething from Orlando, in every action and with every word. Even, “Be nice. I won’t hurt you…”
