‘The Curing Room’ offers unique challenge for actors
THEATRE OUTRÉ BRINGS STORY OF WAR-PRISONER HARDSHIP
Concepts of order and humanity are stripped to the bone in the new Theatre Outré production “The Curing Room” by David Ian Lee.
“The Curing Room” tells the story of seven Soviet soldiers captured by Nazis, stripped naked, and abandoned in the locked empty cellar of a Polish monastery. Deprived of the trappings of survival, the men regress to their most base natures in order to survive.
The story explores societal constructs of order and the nature of humanity through a grim lens of murder and cannibalism.
The play is inspired by actual events which occurred during the Second World War. This is the North American premiere of the play, which has been performed in Europe previously.
“This is a real departure for our company,” said Jay Whitehead, artistic director for Theatre Outré. “We’ve never done anything with this kind of impact or these kinds of themes.”
To add to the realism and to draw in the audience, the production is being performed in the basement of Ten Thousand Villages on Fifth Street South in downtown Lethbridge.
“Because it takes place in a dingy basement, we actually found a space that puts the audience in that position,” said Whitehead. “The play itself is very violent. It shows what these soldiers were willing to do in order to survive. And they went through extreme lengths.”
A.J. Baragar plays Nikolov, the highest ranking officer in the play, but ultimately the least-qualified to handle the situation.
“I’ve sort of seen him as someone who was coddled into the role,” he said. “His whole family has probably been in high-ranking positions for a very long time, and he was born into it. He hasn’t really needed to prove himself — until now.”
Baragar said as an actor, the production has provided interesting challenges to playing a complicated character in a complicated space.
“(Nikolov) is someone who is trying to be more powerful than they actually are, or more useful than they actually are,” he said.
Baragar said performing in a cold, dark basement is a new experience for him.
“I’ve never done something quite this gritty before,” he said. “It’s exciting. When you’re on a stage, there’s a heater, and you are on soft floor, sometimes it is harder to get into the world of the play. Here, it’s really not that hard.”
Whitehead said performing in the nude has been an issue to get over for some of the actors, as well as the discomfort imposed upon them by the space.
“As an actor, it’s very useful, because these characters were in a lot of discomfort,” said Whitehead. “It’s cold down here. We have no clothing. It’s been a challenge, for sure.”
This season for Theatre Outré has been an exploration of nudity. Whitehead said he was drawn to “The Curing Room” because it explores issues surrounding nudity in a more primal, animal way.
“It’s exploring themes around how under our clothes, we’re really just part of the animal kingdom,” he said. “We’ll do what it takes to survive if needed. And it’s also a true story that, while embellished, is little known.”
“The Curing Room” runs from Monday to March 3. Please note, this production contains coarse language, extreme gore, and nudity throughout. For ticket information, please visit theatreoutre.ca.
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