[NEohioPAL]Final week for Necessary Targets at Fine Arts-Read Review Here

[Wanda Wareham]

>From The News Herald-TGIF, Friday, February 17, 2006.  John Benson,
Correspondent at The News Herald
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"Necessary Targets hits mark with power"
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Gutsy Fine Arts production leaves quite an impression
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Destroyed women are on display in The Fine Arts Association's current
Shadowbox Series on Corning production, Eve Ensler's "Necessary
Targets."
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REVIEW
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Be ready for lives to be changed on stage-as well as in the
audience-during the 90-minute play as the seven-member cast turns in one
of the best Fine Arts performances in recent years.
While Ensler's script features plenty of familiar, and even clich=E9d,
story arcs-the most notable of which is a big-time New York City
psychiatrist discovering her meticulous and materialistic life is
meaningless-it's the cast that deftly transcends the material into a
piece of work that will resonate in the audience member's mind for the
rest of his or her life.
The 1995 story involves two American therapists-J.S. (Mary Ann Elder)
and Melissa (Maggie Arndt)-attempting to treat five female Bosnian war
refugees-Jelena (Julia Kolibab), Azra (Jeanne Task), Nuna (Anya Absten),
Zlata (Tracee Patterson) and Seada (Natalie Green)-living in a camp.
While Melissa is a veteran of war-torn camps, with Arndt giving the
character the perfect blend of smugness and earnest intentions, it's the
journey of J.S. that keeps "Necessary Targets" on its mark.
Elder's performance might begin slowly, but by the play's end she
becomes the epicenter of gravity, pulling the refugees into a quiet
tornado of pain and catharsis.
As for the refugee actors, every single one delivers specific moments of
poignancy and enlightenment under the cover of pain and suffering.
This is not community theater feigning moments of professional
brilliance.  This is simply a brilliant performance that is unflinching
in its conviction and demands to be experienced by lives untouched by
such cruelty and personal devastation.
A complement to Elder's performance is that of Patterson, who gives
Zlata the quintessential tough exterior and silent resolve she needs to
hide from the brightness of the day and instead find solace in the
darkness.  Once Zlata does begin to open up, the results are
earthshaking.
"What happened during the war is killing her.  Denial is keeping her
alive," says Zlata about Seada (Green), who was traumatized after
watching her husband and mother murdered.
Watching Green unravel Seada's story is a visceral experience that will
touch you deeply.  The young acrtress rises far above the challenge,
leaving her entire soul on stage as she conveys the deprivation of the
human spirit more than the physical torture of rape.
Not to be missed, the remaining cast members-Kolibab, Task and
Absten-shine as well, with each character filling in the spaces
associated with the Bosnian conflict.
Don't be misled by the gravity of the story.  There are plenty of light
moments and interesting banter to be found in "Necessary Targets."
Kudos to Fine Arts officials for recapturing the intimacy associated
with the Shadowbox Series which up until this season was presented in
the basement of an Andrews School building.  Keenly, risers and seats
were placed at the back of the Corning Auditorium stage with the action
taking place at the front of the stage for the close audience.
Whereas there have been many productions that speak to the horrors of
genocide, "Necessary Targets" succeeds in revealing compelling layers
for both witnesses and victims.
And as long as history continues to repeat itself, the education goes
on.
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"Necessary Targets" continues at 8 pm Friday and Saturday, Feb 24 & 25
at Fine Arts Association's Corning Auditorium, 38660 Mentor Ave.,
Willoughby.  For tickets, which are $19 for adults and $17 for seniors
and students, call (440) 951-6637.=20
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