KDHX Theatre Review - Marija's Pictures
For a play that features the wartime rape of a mother and a daughter, what's
expected is preachment and diatribe, overwhelming the audience with righteous
bitterness. How much more satisfying, then, when such a play
is none of those things, looking instead for meanings in the lives of the survivors.
The U.S.
professional premiere of Marija's Pictures by Croatian playwright Lydia
Scheuermann Hodak, currently being presented by Upstream Theater, although
forceful and harrowing in its content, is ultimately a
thoughtful and life-affirming statement.
Taking the form of what is virtually a single extended monologue by the
protagonist, Marija, the play tells the story of a
mother and daughter before and during the wars of the early 1990s in the former
Yugoslavia.
When the daughter is raped and does not speak of it, the mother overlooks the
signs and remains in denial until after she herself is
raped. Reminiscing after the fact, and after her daughter has died giving birth
to the child conceived by this rape, Marija faces up to her denial, explores her
guilt, and ultimately focuses on her life to come as what is politely referred
to as a "displaced person." Linda Kennedy plays Marija, with fine
touches of ordinary humanity mixed with the suffering and acceptance she
portrays. Elizabeth Birkenmeier plays Lucija, her
daughter, and Jane Paradise play Ksenija, the social
worker to whom Marija tells parts of her story, both providing strong support.
Live music provided by Farshid Soltanshahi underlies much of the play. Mood
music playing under the action on stage is usually a bad idea – it's an
unnatural intrusion more appropriate to the cinema than to live theater. But in
this case, the nontraditional structure of this play does seem to be
complemented very well by music, and the music selected is a very good fit.
Only very rarely is it a distraction. It certainly doesn't hurt that the music
is excellent in and of itself, and if one must have music during the action,
live music is vastly superior to recorded music.
The play is short, running just a little over an hour, reminding us of the
virtue of knowing when you've said all you have to say. The influence of
director Philip Boehm is entirely invisible, which in my experience usually
means that behind the scenes it is profound and positive. Though I don't think
this piece is for everyone, for those who are attuned to this sort of theater,
it should be very rewarding indeed.
Marija's Pictures continues through November 5th [2006] at the Forsyth School, 305 S. Skinker Boulevard. For information
and reservations call 314-863-4999.