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Timely political satire packs a wallop
Reviewed by: Fran Heller Contributing Writer
The future is now.
Sam Shepard’s absurdist vision in “The God of Hell” draws a page from George Orwell’s political satire 1984.
Written as a cautionary tale in response to the Bush administration just prior to the 2004 election, Shepard’s blistering farce about the dangers of Big Brother is just as timely in 2008.
The 80-minute polemic is being presented at The Bang and the Clatter - Sometimes in the Silence … Theatre Company through August 23. Christopher Johnston’s in-your-face direction and a dynamite cast deliver an explosive evening of thought-provoking theater you won’t soon forget.
Frank and Emma own a small dairy farm in the Wisconsin heartland. Their uneventful lives are soon shattered when Haynes, an old friend of Frank’s, seeks refuge in their basement. Haynes is on the lam from the government, which used and abused him as part of a nuclear experimental program.
But there is no hiding from Big Brother, and it isn’t long before Frank and Emma are caught in the government’s baleful trap.
All the action takes place in Frank and Emma’s homey, comfortable kitchen and sitting room, drawn with lavish attention to detail by Sean Derry.
While Frank tends to his heifers, Emma cooks breakfast. Suddenly a doorbell rings. It is Welch, a traveling salesman of sorts. As Welch’s real purpose unfolds, humor turns to horror in this macabre and surreal tale of fear mongering, brainwashing and physical torture.
“God of Hell” is not a perfect play. Written hastily and in the heat of anger (Shepard wanted to get his message out before the 2004 election), the improbable plot is filled with loopholes, requiring the viewer to fill in the blanks. Yet, despite its weaknesses, Shepard’s rallying cry is unmistakably clear. Wake up America, he seems to be saying, and pay attention to what your government is doing before it is too late.
The first-rate cast more than compensates for the play’s structural flaws.
Daniel McElhaney is completely shattering as the government bureaucrat Welch. Dressed in the colors of the flag (blue suit, white shirt and bright red tie), Welch’s bald pate and tattooed arm make him look like a skinhead in respectable clothing. As Welch inveigles himself into the lives of the unsuspecting Frank and Emma, he reveals his true colors: evil in the guise of American patriotism.
Joseph Milan’s Frank is a kind and unworldly guy. His transition from dairy farmer to automaton is bone-chilling.
Jen Klika’s Emma is stronger than Frank. But her healthy skepticism and fearlessness are still no match for the malevolent Welch.
With darting eyes, shaking hands, and body language on hyper-alert, John Busser evokes the pure terror of Haynes, a human guinea pig. Now Haynes has contaminated Frank and Emma, not only with his touch, but with his fear.
The image of Welch dragging along a black-hooded Haynes comes straight from the photographs of tortured Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. As the brainwashed men exit, their departure evokes images of a Nazi goose-step.
The title and nub of the play refers to Pluto, the god of hell, for whom the radioactive material of plutonium is named. Once released into the atmosphere, plutonium remains radioactive and biologically dangerous for 500,000 years.
“The God of Hell” centers on the invasion of privacy and the erosion of democracy. Shepard has described his play as “a takeoff on Republican fascism.”
I like my theater gutsy and provocative. “The God of Hell” delivers.
WHAT: The God of Hell
WHERE: The Bang and The Clatter Theatre Company, 224 Euclid Ave. near East 4th St.
WHEN: Through Aug. 23
TICKETS & INFO: 330-606-5317
The future is now.
Sam Shepard’s absurdist vision in “The God of Hell” draws a page from George Orwell’s political satire 1984.
Written as a cautionary tale in response to the Bush administration just prior to the 2004 election, Shepard’s blistering farce about the dangers of Big Brother is just as timely in 2008.
The 80-minute polemic is being presented at The Bang and the Clatter - Sometimes in the Silence … Theatre Company through August 23. Christopher Johnston’s in-your-face direction and a dynamite cast deliver an explosive evening of thought-provoking theater you won’t soon forget.
Frank and Emma own a small dairy farm in the Wisconsin heartland. Their uneventful lives are soon shattered when Haynes, an old friend of Frank’s, seeks refuge in their basement. Haynes is on the lam from the government, which used and abused him as part of a nuclear experimental program.
But there is no hiding from Big Brother, and it isn’t long before Frank and Emma are caught in the government’s baleful trap.
All the action takes place in Frank and Emma’s homey, comfortable kitchen and sitting room, drawn with lavish attention to detail by Sean Derry.
While Frank tends to his heifers, Emma cooks breakfast. Suddenly a doorbell rings. It is Welch, a traveling salesman of sorts. As Welch’s real purpose unfolds, humor turns to horror in this macabre and surreal tale of fear mongering, brainwashing and physical torture.
“God of Hell” is not a perfect play. Written hastily and in the heat of anger (Shepard wanted to get his message out before the 2004 election), the improbable plot is filled with loopholes, requiring the viewer to fill in the blanks. Yet, despite its weaknesses, Shepard’s rallying cry is unmistakably clear. Wake up America, he seems to be saying, and pay attention to what your government is doing before it is too late.
The first-rate cast more than compensates for the play’s structural flaws.
Daniel McElhaney is completely shattering as the government bureaucrat Welch. Dressed in the colors of the flag (blue suit, white shirt and bright red tie), Welch’s bald pate and tattooed arm make him look like a skinhead in respectable clothing. As Welch inveigles himself into the lives of the unsuspecting Frank and Emma, he reveals his true colors: evil in the guise of American patriotism.
Joseph Milan’s Frank is a kind and unworldly guy. His transition from dairy farmer to automaton is bone-chilling.
Jen Klika’s Emma is stronger than Frank. But her healthy skepticism and fearlessness are still no match for the malevolent Welch.
With darting eyes, shaking hands, and body language on hyper-alert, John Busser evokes the pure terror of Haynes, a human guinea pig. Now Haynes has contaminated Frank and Emma, not only with his touch, but with his fear.
The image of Welch dragging along a black-hooded Haynes comes straight from the photographs of tortured Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. As the brainwashed men exit, their departure evokes images of a Nazi goose-step.
The title and nub of the play refers to Pluto, the god of hell, for whom the radioactive material of plutonium is named. Once released into the atmosphere, plutonium remains radioactive and biologically dangerous for 500,000 years.
“The God of Hell” centers on the invasion of privacy and the erosion of democracy. Shepard has described his play as “a takeoff on Republican fascism.”
I like my theater gutsy and provocative. “The God of Hell” delivers.
WHAT: The God of Hell
WHERE: The Bang and The Clatter Theatre Company, 224 Euclid Ave. near East 4th St.
WHEN: Through Aug. 23
TICKETS & INFO: 330-606-5317
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