[NEohioPAL] Review of "Self Defense" at convergence-continuum

[Bob Abelman]

con-con's 'Self Defense' paints a powerful portrait of a female killer 

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 7/19/13

 

 

This season, convergence-continuum is presenting three provocative productions with the theme "Mayhem and Madness."  Both are well represented in the Ohio premiere of Carson Kreitzer's "Self Defense," an intense fictionalized account of real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos' tribulations and trial.  

 

Wuornos was a prostitute who killed seven middle-aged johns in Florida between 1989 and 1990 and, despite claims of self-defense, was executed for her crimes in 2002.  Wuornos was the subject of the 2003 film "Monster" starring Charlize Theron.

 

Calling her Jolene (Laurel Hoffman), the playwright focuses on the time between the first murder and her death by lethal injection, and does so through an intriguing and occasionally confusing series of short vignettes.  They provide - through flashbacks, overlapping and interlaced dialogue, and videos displayed in con-con's extremely intimate performance space -- diminutive glimpses, disturbing images, and partial insights into this story and its key players.  

 

We are offered select pieces of Jolene's history, including her abandonment at age 4, the abuse she endured at the hands of the grandparents who raised her, and her giving birth at the age of 14.

 

We see that Jolene is an obsessive liar, an extreme paranoid, and someone who perceives herself as unlovable.  

 

We hear about life on the streets in Jolene's own graceless, profanity-filled words and those of her colleagues in coitus (Katie Atkison, Rachel Kolis), and listen to actual courtroom testimony where Jolene describes in excruciating detail the acts of brutality she encountered and the retaliation she inflicted.    

 

We learn about her intimate relationship with Lu (Elaine Feagler) and Lu's betrayal, which paints a human and sympathetic face on a monster.  

 

Much like the detectives (Aaron Elersich, Joe Dunn), lawyers (Rachel Kolis, Clyde Simon), judge (Wes Shofner) and coroner (Emily Pucell) in the play, the audience must piece together these scattered observations and draw its own conclusions.  Is the sexual assault of a woman who sells her body for a living actually rape or is it merely theft?  Is Jolene's excessive retaliation self defense, murder or madness?

 

The play, with its gritty writing and powerful imagery, makes a convincing argument for each scenario.  And, in this tight and well-paced production under Geoffrey Hoffman's direction (he also directed Kreitzer's "Freakshow" in 2008), the audience is not allowed to linger on one possibility more than another.  

 

Laurel Hoffman as Jolene is a scowling, confrontational, perpetually pacing piece of work - a complicated composite of unrefined bravado, blind anger, survival instincts gone awry, and denial.   She takes on the awkward physicality of someone absolutely uncomfortable in her own skin and even less comfortable in her surroundings.  While Charlize Theron won the Academy Award for transforming herself into the Daytona Beach prostitute, Hoffman's portrayal is thoroughly transfixing. 

 

Lesser performances by some members of the ensemble who play multiple roles somewhat dilute the play's poignancy and Hoffman's powerful portrayal.  Not everyone seems up to the task of delivering this complicated piece of storytelling.

 

The playwright doesn't help matters by raising too many questions about the making of a serial killer and the injustices in our judicial system - and not answering them.  She also offers interesting but aimless commentary about our culture's fascination with crimes of this nature and introduces us to but fails to follow up on the hangers-on who seek notoriety or money at Jolene's expense.  

 

Still, this story is intriguing and Hoffman's performance is riveting.  

 

Between Hoffman's Jolene and Tracee Patterson's Medea, presented earlier this summer in Mamaí Theatre Company's inaugural offering, audiences have been treated to some superb acting and given plenty to think about.  Misbehaving middle-aged men have been given two more reasons to watch their backs. 

 

"Self Defense" runs through July 27 at convergence-continuum's The Liminis Theatre, 2438 Scranton Rd., Cleveland.  Tickets, which range from $10 to $15, can be purchased by calling 216-687-0074 or visiting www.convergence-continuum.org.
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