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Sam Shepard play isn't for squeamish
(by Herb Hammer - August 21, 2008)
Sam Shepard play isn't for squeamish
Frank and Emma live a quite existence in a shabby Wisconsin farmhouse. Frank tends to his heifers, and Emma her plants. She waters them continuously. Their quiet world explodes around them from a simple knock on the door.
The Bang and Clatter Sometimes in Silence Theatre Company (the name takes up four lines in the program) is presenting this scary bit of Sam Shepard at its new location on Euclid Avenue near East 4th Street.
Mr. Shepard's play "The God of Hell" advances George Orwell's "1984" to a higher level of a government gone mad.
This, as described by the author, is a "take off on federal fascism."
It doesn't sound like a play described in the program as a comedy. Welch, the creepy character who forces his way in with a briefcase full of patriotic trinkets, wants to know if there is anyone in the basement.
Well, there is. He's an old friend of Frank's who sends off static electricity with anyone he touches.
Though Mr. Shepard rarely exposes the obvious, he does just that.
Haynes, the man who is the guest living in the basement, has recently been involved in some sort of nuclear experiment.
Welch is a scary man from the government. "He's from the government?" "What government?" "Our government." The language of the play makes your skin crawl.
Welch, an expert at torture, is about to take Haynes away with him back to the government. He even manages to take the innocent Frank along. We won't see him anymore.
"The God of Hell" was first produced just before the 2004 presidential election. The playwright forewarns against an administration still in charge.
At one point, Welch is busy stapling little red, white and blue flags and other patriotic symbols on Emma's cabinets. He imposes unspeakable torture on Haynes then brings him upstairs, continuing his torture antics.
The play is not for the squeamish and surely not for the party in power. The play takes straight aim at the man in charge.
The sometimes manic Welch tells Emma, "You didn't think you were going to get a free ride on the backs of democracy forever, did you?"
The play is described as a "comedy in three scenes." There's nothing funny about a speech from Haynes: "Do you know what plutonium is made of, Frank?" "Pluto, the god of hell." "Do you know how long it stays radioactive?" "Five hundred thousand years."
This is scary stuff. No, the play doesn't reach the high plateaus of "True West," "Fool for Love" or the award-winning "Buried Child," but Mr. Shepard still has the talent to write riveting dialogue and to scare you out of your seats.
But even Sam Shepard needs a talented cast to convey his message. He has one here.
Jen Klika plays Emma, a woman who has spent her entire life in this secluded farmhouse. Miss Klika's Emma has no sense of what is going on here. She is a daughter of the dairy land and expects all bad things to go away. This alone makes her character work so well.
Joseph Milan, as Frank, is a man of the heartland who is engulfed in the insanity and in the end is caught up in the violence.
Daniel McElhaney, as Welch, and John Busser, as Haynes, carry the show, both realizing what Sam Shepard is looking for. The stings, and there are plenty of those, in their performances are excellent.
Director Christopher Johnston has some of the play going along smartly, but he loses his way some of the time. The production occasionally has a flat feel.
The Bang and Clatter is an Akron group now set up at 224 Euclid Ave., a near perfect performing space. Whatever your political leanings, you'll be blown away.
Call (330) 606-5317 for tickets.
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