Extremities

A man (Adam Tuominen as Raul) has arrived, unknown and uninvited, at the home that a woman (Rachel Wegener as Marjorie) shares with two female housemates (Nikki Elli Souvertjis as Terry, and Stefanie Rossi as Patricia), both of whom happen to be out…The man gradually turns threatening, with the woman doing her best to avert what she surely fears could happen – but when it does happen, the results will surprise you, and the moral dilemma that is generated brings home to us the awful truth about the violent nature of man and the legacy it sets in motion…Would we all be willing to do whatever it takes to eliminate a proven threat from our own lives?

A lot of great theatre has challenged its audience’s preconceptions and generated an uncomfortable atmosphere. Director Tony Knight* accomplishes this with Extremities, but does that automatically make it great theatre?  One has to grant its noble intentions – particular credit is due to the production team for arranging a post-show discussion - and one wants it to achieve the end result of getting the crucially important issue of violence against women discussed and debated in a thoughtful and intelligent manner.

This production is a troubling and unsettling experience, but probably not in the way you would expect, and not always in a fashion that would seem conducive to communicating the message inherent in the text. This is a piece of writing that dramatizes the horrifying dilemma facing women in our society who are assaulted but can neither live free of fear nor obtain justice – and yet it still managed to generate more outright laughs from its opening night audience than some comedies.

Laughter is not necessarily an inappropriate response here - there are, absolutely, moments of valid black comedy threaded through the tale, and elements that are enhanced by a darkly funny perspective - but the performers have been directed to race through their dialogue in a fashion that actually bypasses a great deal of the potential for nuanced drama, generating instead a feeling closer to that of a farce. When the humour plays as overtly as it does here – rather than bitter, stifled, or involuntary – the tone simply feels misjudged.

None of the violence or threat is lingered on in an exploitative manner, which would be commendable – except that it feels like part of a general distancing strategy that backfires by neglecting to connect sufficiently with the emotions. At a crucial point towards the end of Extremities, a woman loses the moral support and belief of the other women around her, but what should be devastatingly powerful instead feels far too sudden and decisive to be believed as presented here, even if we can understand and appreciate the point that is being made.

With the open-plan, white-dominated set (by Hannah Sitters) offering spaciousness instead of claustrophobia and designed for the purposes of symbolism rather than realism, Knight’s overall conception – detailed in programme notes that stress his desire to keep the audience aware that they are watching a piece of theatre - forces us to rethink and reframe our traditional notions about this type of play. Perhaps for this reason alone, it may be worth seeing and deciding for yourself. This reviewer found the approach taken to be mostly unsuccessful and dissatisfying – more like a superficial, ineffective gloss on the material than a drama likely to leave a lasting impact - but anyone who is both new to Extremities and eager to be challenged may well find themselves swept up, carried along, and fully convinced, just as the show intends. Take a chance and find out.

Anthony Vawser

Photos copyright Mystique Productions and Tony Knight Acting