Review: Murkiness Mars Exiled Theatre's M: REFRACTIONS FROM AN EVIL ACT
The world premiere production runs through August 9 at Boston Playwrights' Theatre
In a program note for his latest play, “M: Refractions from an Evil Act” – being given its world premiere production by Exiled Theatre through August 9 at Boston Playwrights' Theatre, as part of the company’s New Play Incubator program – playwright James Wilkinson, an IRNE nominee for his 2017 “Nurse Play,” writes, “This piece is based on a disastrous three-day weekend I once spent in Paris. Make of that what you may.”
That last line pretty much sums up the biggest challenge this two-act play poses – what to make of it. The confusing plot traces the late-evening arrival of M, a woman traveler from abroad, back at a Paris hotel room that now somehow doesn’t quite feel right to her. A man we’ll later find out is named Lone appears, disappears, and then reappears. As M’s disquieting night proceeds, it seems that something bad has happened at this hotel in the past, or is happening now, or both, and that M herself – who is sometimes aggressive and often unreliable – may or may not be involved in it, but none of this ever becomes clear.
Director Joe Juknievich does what he can with a solid cast comprised of Julia Hertzberg as M, Sydney Grant as a hotel maid named Jolene, Peter Tone as the hotel clerk, and Tim Hoover as Lone, but the mind is nevertheless left to wander in search of any kind of mooring. Further compounding the confusion is the use of a considerable amount of untranslated French dialogue, delivered fluently by Grant and Tone, but still too often for an English-language play.
In the meantime, we get moments of door slamming reminiscent of French farce, though this is not a farce, and flickering-light effects by lighting designer Nick Duffy that seem inspired by earlier, more fully conceived thrillers like Frederick Knott’s “Wait Until Dark” or Ira Levin’s “Deathtrap,” but are unilluminating here.
That this play is based on the afore-mentioned weekend Wilkinson spent in Paris may be intriguing to ponder, but unfortunately, its murkiness mars it..
Photo caption: Sydney Grant and Julia Hertzberg in a scene from the world premiere production of “M: Refractions from an Evil Act” at Boston Playwright’s Theatre. Photo by Morganna Becker.
|
|
Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue Emerson Colonial Theatre (11/28-11/28) |
|
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE The Cape Playhouse (9/02-9/19) |
|
The Notebook Emerson Colonial Theatre (12/08-12/20) |
|
Rocky Horror Show The Company Theatre (10/02-10/18) |
|
Jazz at the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival: Steve Wilson, Renee Rosnes and David Wong Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival (8/11-8/11) |
|
MOON MAN WALK Gloucester Stage Company (9/10-9/26) |
|
Little Shop of Horrors 40th Anniversary Tour with Ellen Greene (the Original Audrey) Emerson Colonial Theatre (8/28-8/28) |
|
The Book of Mormon (Non-Equity) Boston Opera House (6/22-6/27) |
|
Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest Huntington Theatre (1/21-2/07) |
|
The Seth Rudetsky Concert Series featuring Norm Lewis '62 Center for Theatre & Dance (8/08-8/08) |
Reader Reviews
To post a comment, you must register and login.