Photo: Jeff Busby
In a 1995 interview, Ariel Dorfman stated the central theme of Death and the Maiden to be “the stark, painful Chilean transition to democracy” and though this is never directly stated in the play it is a telling context. There can be no mistake about this play being an allegorical work about dictatorship or the horrors of torture, it isn’t. It’s about Chile and three people who were each marked deeply by a particular chapter of its history. Bringing this context is vital to building the emotional intensity, dramatic tension and depth of character that this story demands.
That does not mean hauling out a clumsy Chilean accent. Indeed, both the film version and Jeremy Herrin’s 2011 West End production did not but it does require the characters to bear the mark of their pasts. It means feeling Paulina’s pain at encountering the man she believes to be responsible for brutalising her. It means building Gerardo’s conflict between the desire to stand with his wife and stand with his principles. And it means creating real ambiguity about Dr Miranda’s true identity. Dorfman’s play has all three; this production does not.
On a beautifully designed set that obscured, deceived and hid, it was the performances that fell short. The raw emotion needed to electrify these characters and meaningfully embody their spirit threatened but never broke through. The talk of the ‘president of the republic’, ‘the president’s commission’ and democratic ideals wrung somewhat hollow. Much of the humour was poorly timed and rather than being a sardonic reaction to the characters’ dire situation, it felt flippant and frequently broke the tension.
The sheer magnitude of Paulina’s actions, the stakes involved in her decision to enact her own private trial and her husband’s fraught complicity were never fully felt. The volatility and combustibility of the surrounding environment never fully brought its weight to bear. As a result the entire focus of the play became whether or not Dr Miranda was guilty rather than the numerous complex moral questions raised about individual versus collective justice, amnesty and reconciliation and vengeance.
Torture is without doubt one of the most depraved and damaging forms of human cruelty. It tears at the very substance of what we consider to be civility. To truly create the human products of torture is a herculean task but anything short of success is very hard to swallow or connect with. This production of Death and the Maiden takes up the challenge valiantly but unfortunately falls short of the mark.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Death and the Maiden
By Ariel Dorfman
A Melbourne Theatre Company/Sydney Theatre Company co-production
Directed by Leticia Cáceres
Set & Lighting Designer: Nick Schlieper
Costume Designer: Anna Cordingley
Composer & Sound Designer: THE SWEATS
Cast: Eugene Gilfedder, Steve Mouzakis, Susie Porter
The Sumner, Southbank Theatre
18 July – 22 August 2015
Wharf 1, Walsh Bay
28 August – 17 October 2015
