Review: A Red Orchid Theatre's THE TARGETED at The Chopin Theatre
The world premiere by Hanna Kime performs until June 14th.
A Red Orchid Theatre concludes their 33rd Season with the world premiere of THE TARGETED at the Chopin Theatre. Playwright Hanna Kime first started writing the play in 2019, at a moment when political tension and distrust started to escalate. What is brought to the stage is a dramatic comedy that challenges the love we give to others even if their actions do not align with one another’s morals.
The audience is introduced to the Solidarity and Truth Summit - a resort for “Targeted Individuals” - a group of people who are convinced they are being surveilled by the government. In the quiet resort we meet a variety of characters - the resort’s advisor Jeff (Lawrence Grimm), and its members: Rhonda (Kristen Fitzgerald), Sherry (Sadieh Rifai), Didi (Natalie West), Eric (Glenn Obrero) and Mia (Stephanie Shum). Over a three-day weekend, many of the members find kinship with similar trauma while others are skeptical with the moral purposes of the resort. While specific characters’ stories end ambiguous, the themes of suffering, paranoia and human connection remain very present in this new play.
Kime and director Grace Dolezai-Ng collaborate well together to bring this World Premiere to life. Known for her recent work in WISH YOU WERE HERE (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company) and CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (Marriott Theatre), Lauren M. Nichols’s set design is extraordinary. In the intimate Mainstage at Chopin Theatre, the set of the Solidarity and Truth Summit looks larger than life as a resort in the middle of nowhere. Lighting design by Josiah Croegaert and projections designed by Eme Ospina-López succeeds in presenting the surveillance suspicion the characters experience, whether realistic or fictional.
THE TARGETED's cast successfully balances the production’s drama and dark comedy. The company’s Artistic Director Fitzgerald as Rhonda is forceful and passionate in the resort’s work, both to the participants’ interest and annoyance. West and Rifai bring much of the comedy to the play as the newest and oldest participants. Shum and Obrero present a compelling sibling dynamic, one being highly protective while the other struggles to connect. Meanwhile, Grimm’s performance succeeds in portraying a man driven equally by mission and grief. Within the ninety-minute performance, the entire company comes together to bring an original and emotionally layered piece to the stage.
In its world premiere, THE TARGETED succeeds as both a dark comedy and a compassionate examination of human connection. A Red Orchid Theatre closes its season with a production that is unsettling, and empathetic, leaving audiences with lingering questions about belief, grief and the communities people build in order to survive them.
THE TARGETED runs until June 14th at the Chopin Theatre’s Mainstage. For more information about A Red Orchid Theatre, visit the company’s official website.
Photo Credit: Evan Hanover
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