[NEohioPAL]PERSONAL REVIEW: State of Siege at CPT

[Kathleen Cromie]

I WANT TO SEE IT AGAIN!


Okay, now that to scroll-pasters have caught the gist, on to the review:

Camus, masks, a character named "The Plague"...  I was expecting this to be 
the theatrical equivalent of Brussels sprouts.  I knew it would be good for 
me, but I had no idea I would have such a great time.

The masks - I was unsure how this would affect the show, but it works 
wonderfully.  As this story is a parable, the characters aren't supposed to 
be original - they're the stock characters you'd see in any town but placed 
in an extraordinary situation.  The masks take away the originality an 
actor's face would bring to the role and help you accept that they're 
portraying archetypes.

The story itself is about, no points for guessing, a state of siege, in 
which The Plague (this is by Camus, so no points for guessing that either) 
takes over a small Ameri... opps, I mean Spanish town and sets himself up as 
a dictator as fond of red tape confusion as he is of his secretary, Death 
(whom too many Terry Pratchett books led me to believe would be speaking in 
all capital letters).

What the story is truly about is fear - if you've ever seen the Twilight 
Zone episode "The Monsters on Maple Street," then you get the idea.  The 
'culture of fear' story is so perfect for our times, you have to admire the 
director's restraint in not actually running Bush's "Yer either for us, or 
again' us clip" during the show.  The production is happy to acknowledge 
that if you've bought a ticket for a play by Camus, a simple game of 
connect-the-politically-obvious-dots is not beyond you.

Strange enough, it feels refreshingly honest to watch two loves conduct 
their relationship in masks, a way of acknowledging that we already know who 
they are (boy and girl of "Boy meets Girl" fame) and are only interested in 
how they respond to the situation.  By the time they do take off their 
masks, you feel they've earned the right to become flesh-and-blood people.  
Only by living without fear - fear of death, of loss, of what other people 
think - can we transcend our two-dimensional archetypal genus and offer 
something of personal value to the world (or so Camus would have you 
believe).

Thankfully, there's no holier-than-thou attitude, no we're-smarter 
smarminess, in Camus' script or this production.  Even the lead character is 
shown to ugly and self-serving at times, the beleaguered villagers ready and 
eager to become petty tyrants when they think they're safe.

The real joy of this show, what elevates it from mere moral-with-a-plot 
status to a great night of theater, is the amazing cast.  Giving fearlessly 
fear-struck performances, they are by turns repulsive, shocking, and 
laugh-out-loud funny.

But here comes the best part: The true star of any parable is you, the 
audience.  For once you're right, it is all about you!  But that's where the 
true cost of the evening kicks in as well.  It's not your money or your time 
(both are well spent) but having to remember this production.  The next time 
you feel afraid, will you strike out?  Or hide behind your mask?

It's entertaining to laugh at the villagers, and harrowing to think you may 
be one of them.

Sincerely,
Kathleen "K.C." Cromie


A survey at Harvard found that only 3% of students had a written list of 
life goals.  Years later, those 3% were doing better than the other 97% 
combined.

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