Play reveals insidious nature of domestic violence
BETWEEN US ★ ★ ★ ½ out of five
Presented by: Handsome Alice
Theatre
Written and performed by:
Meg Farhall and Michael Rolfe
At: Vertigo Studio Theatre until Feb. 29
When: Evenings at 7 p.m. with matinees at 2:30 p.m.
With Between Us, Handsome Alice Theatre has crafted a disturbing and compelling portrait of domestic violence.
Written and performed by Meg Farhall and Michael Rolfe, Between Us follows the relationship of Anna and William from its cute beginning to its violent and tragic ending.
When they meet at a bar, William seems socially inept in a charming way, which goes a long way to explaining why Anna agrees to let him buy her a drink, dances with him and agrees to meet him again.
William’s self-deprecating manner is also what blinds Anna to his controlling tendencies. He keeps insisting he is trying to be a perfect man and lets her know when he feels he has failed and must start all over. This is a teddy bear who may be lovable but he’s also dangerous and manipulative.
The way the play is structured, written and performed, the audience sees the warning signals and wonders why Anna doesn’t. The truth is, she does but she also minimizes the risk they present until it is too late.
Anna’s big mistake is to move into William’s apartment because that traps her. When she tries to leave, she has no place to go.
A recurring game of dominance that William plays is to hide Anna’s car keys, pretending it’s because he doesn’t want her to leave him, especially on weekends. The more he does it the more chilling the effect is, both for Anna and the audience.
Set designer Alison Yanota makes a circular acting area with seats around it. The effect is to make the play and the action claustrophobic. There seems to be no escape.
The way director Vanessa Porteous stages the action intensifies the feeling of helplessness. Eventually, Anna and William are like animals in a cage, pacing about trying to keep or steal space from the other.
The moments of actual violence are few but always effective as they escalate to the tragedy this play warns happens far too often when women willingly or are forced to give up independence and self-esteem.
Farhall shows how giving in and giving up so much of herself weakens Anna. The once funny, vibrant, motivated woman becomes a shell of herself.
With Rolfe, he shows how self-doubt and wallowing in a shameful self-image makes William a powder keg.
The play is followed each evening by discussion groups featuring speakers from agencies that deal with domestic and gender violence. The show runs in the Vertigo Studio Theatre until Saturday.