RAGE AGAINST THE INFERNO (JERUSULEM) by Rouvan Silogix (Sketch Platform Productions). At the Robert Gill Theatre. July 9 at 10:30 pm, July 10 at 2:45 pm, July 12 at 7:30 pm, July 13 at 4 pm, July 14 at 3:30 pm. See listing. Rating: NNN
This new play, part of a trilogy here at Fringe inspired by Dantes Divine Comedy (read our reviews of the other two parts here and here), opens on three lovers: Izzy (Brittany Cope), Polly (Kayla Jo Farris) and Juliet (Athena Kaitlin Trinh).
They seem to be in a happy polyamorous relationship, referring to each other endearingly as shitter,” mocking Bob, the Ugly Homeless Guy (a fiddle-playing Ivana Popovic) and singing snatches of the Italian anti-facist resistance song Bella Ciao to each other. But if things are so idyllic, why do Polly and Juliet not address each other directly?
A smirking Popovic calls the three short acts dreams, and the characters actions and recollections become more absurd and fragmented as the play progresses, with sing-alongs to the Zac Brown Band, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros contrasting with fables that touch on Dantes themes of individual and collective sin.
Writer/director Rouvan Silogixs absurdist approach keeps us at a distance, despite his actors inclinations towards naturalism. Theres a scene where Cope tries to reach Farris more strident activist with a story about a banished king, for instance, but she doesnt have a chance to make Izzys intentions clear, with so few pauses in her monologue for anything to emotionally impact the characters.
The audience seemed to leave elated but confused by the hectic production you may experience one more than the other.
