March 15, 2011

Photo courtesy Justin Quesnelle

The Presnyakov Brothers’ play Terrorism opened this weekend to a small audience at The Arts Project. While Passionfool’s production used 20 performers to strengthen the theme of widespread, personal fear, some scenes were unconvincing.

The play begins in an airport closed due to a bomb threat, where Johnny Bobesich — playing husband, boss and abetting murderer — gives an anticlimactic opening with a few flat lines. The emotions in this scene are unconvincing and the intertwined personalities of fellow would-be passengers, played by Norah Cussocrea and Judy McCormick, were over-the-top and draw attention to the production as a play — not as a reflection of reality. The rest of the production follows the lives of the other passengers and their unique situations.

The second scene, set in an apartment, gained a positive reception from the audience who laughed at the adulterous couple’s peculiar sexual requests. But as the production progresses, so do the performances.

Set in an office, another scene revolves around the suicide of an employee. The mixture of expected and absurd reactions to this event had the whole audience laughing, only to be stopped by further lines that drew attention to the darkness of these reactions.

Perhaps some of the most powerful performances in Terrorism are by Lesley Quesnelle and Linda Worsley who play vengeful grandmothers. The final scene of the performance ends on a high note with the return of the airport characters Bosenich, Cuzzocrea and McCormick delivering an emotionally charged and philosophically enlightening dialogue on the fear that we incite in ourselves.

The minimalist set allows for nearly seamless scene changes and lets the play’s theme of ever-present personal terrorism — not linked to a specific circumstance or setting — be apparent.

However, the techno-pop music played between scenes detracts from the emotion of the performances and it seems misplaced.

Seeing as this was the company’s first performance of Terrorism in front of an audience, there were bound to be some rough points that need smoothing out. Nevertheless, Terrorism’s message is obvious and the absurdity of the characters prompts self-reflection to make the audience question and further understand the effects of personal terrorism.

Terrorism plays at The Arts Project on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until March 26. Shows are at 8 p.m. with 2 p.m. matinee performances on Saturdays. Tickets are $20 at the Arts Project, 203 Dundas St.

*Originally published in The Gazette, University of Western Ontario (London, ON), March 15, 2011.