In ‘Dying City,’ war’s over but internal battles rage
Christopher Shinn’s “Dying City” is not really a play about war — although the conflict in Iraq is critical to the plot. It’s a play about relationships, grief, lies, character, self-preservation and the ability to get on with life when it hands you a raw deal.
Any one of those subjects is interesting enough on its own, but playwright Shinn has packed them all into the 75 minutes of “Dying City,” a 2008 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for drama. The play is making its Central Florida debut in an Ensemble Company production in Oviedo.
Shinn’s setup seems artificial: A year after a therapist’s husband dies while deployed to Iraq, his twin brother shows up unexpectedly at her apartment, hoping to reconnect. Adding to the theatricality: The same actor in this two-performer play portrays both twins, as the deceased soldier appears in flashback scenes.
Yet, as directed by Matthew MacDermid, this “Dying City” feels natural and intimate — even as Shinn continues to tease with questions. Why hasn’t therapist Kelly communicated with her brother-in-law, Peter? What happened the night before soldier Craig shipped out? Even characters spoken of but not seen raise more questions: What really happened between Peter and his ex-boyfriend? Or, for that matter, his current boyfriend?
As these questions hang heavier and heavier in the air, MacDermid and his actors do a fine job of raising the emotional stakes. What begins as an awkward reunion between Kelly and Peter starts to become acutely uncomfortable, then veers into even darker territory. The flashback scenes between Kelly and husband Craig offer clues — but little comfort.
Kelly is described by other characters as “passive,” and actor Megan Kueter aptly fits the bill — at first. Kueter, a newcomer to Central Florida stages, could show the audience a bit more of Kelly’s internal strife without ruining the plot twists, considering what the character has been through and what is suddenly thrust upon her.
But Kueter makes Kelly completely real right from the get-go, an important and necessary contrast to Ryan Christopherson’s Peter, an actor who just walked out of his role in “A Long Day’s Journey Into Night.”
Christopherson shows us that Peter is nearly always playing a part, as actors do. (In a fun nod to a performer’s healthy sense of ego, playwright Shinn lets Peter make any topic of conversation that arises about him.)
Also a newcomer to the local theater scene, Christopherson clearly delineates the two brothers in speech, manner and posture. But more remarkably, he shows these brothers’ inner pain differently. Because, make no mistake, these are all people in pain — and Shinn isn’t going to give them or the audience any easy relief.
Can something like war fundamentally change who we are? Or are we responsible for our own characters and choices, regardless of circumstance?
Shinn isn’t going to tell you, but “Dying City” will quietly leave you pondering such matters after the final bows.