The Creditors
In Doug Wright's expert adaptation of Strindberg's stormy folie a trois, love becomes mere economics, and mental cruelty, once unleashed, assumes a life of its own. Gustav's convinced his ex-wife, Tekla, is a soul-vampire. He gave, she took, and now he wants revenge. Tekla's second husband, Adolf, is an invalid (did she steal his energy?). To get back at Tekla, Gustav tries a demented form of autosuggestion on Adolf: implant epilepsy in the crumbling man. The ploy's a stretch, and even Gustav's surprised how well he succeeds. Under Doug Wright's direction, the 90-minute piece unfolds musically, in three movements. The play, even with his crisp translation, feels long-winded, but what the cast does beneath their lines fascinates. Every exchange is a contest of wills in which one character rises and the other sinks and tries to fight back. In a spellbinding performance, T. Ryder Smith gives Gustav a precise, patient surface (and a volcano within). Omar Metwally flips from assertion to grave hurt as Adolf, using the latter as his best control tactic. By the time she enters, you'd expect Kathryn Meisle's Tekla to swoop down on a broom, with fangs for teeth and snakes for hair. Instead, she's lively and vital - and Ibsonian heroine cast in a misogynist, Strindbergian drama.
Critic's Pick.
When
Ongoing until Sunday, October 25, 2009
Hours
| Sundays, 2pm & 7pm |
| Tuesdays, 7:30pm |
| Wednesdays, 7:30pm |
| Thursdays, 8pm |
| Fridays, 8pm |
| Saturdays, 2pm & 8pm |