Why Torture Is Wrong And The People Who Love Them Essay Sample

On Sunday, 3 February 2013 I attended an interesting performance of “Why Torture Is Wrong and the People Who Love Them” by Christopher Durang. The play was directed by Matt Vuchichevich. I was unaware about the story of the play though I had information about the themes of previous plays by Christopher Durang. This play was being performed at the Cookville Performing Arts Center as a part of their Backstage Series. I have always loved to watch such plays because they are very close to my taste.
I was very impressed seeing the unbelievable rotating sets that were used. The complete setup by Kim Frick-Welker was marvelous. Throughout the play various locations were used and the revolving set made the trick look simpler with little or no prop movement on stage. The audience had their eyes glued to the sets and the entire show was on the stage. The song selections during the scene translations and the pre-show were remarkable. The use of the sound and the songs was very melodious and directly contrasted with the noise of the audience. The songs were so easy on the ear that I was flown into it and I realized that I was singing along with the song that was being played.
The play portrayed a series of funny, crazy, serious and shady characters. Kate Breidert portrays the character or Felicity, a sweet confused girl from the suburbs. The initial scene is hilarious when Felicity wakes up after a heavy hangover, mystified to find out that she is married to a person called Zamir; a disturbing, unclear, short tempered and a typical character played by
Matthew Wilson. She does not remember anything about the previous night and questions Zamir about his mode of earning and regarding his personal life, but the creepy Zamir gives unclear answers because he looks scared. The next scene and set moves to the suburbs where Felicity takes Zamir to her parents. For my surprise, I found the parents of Felicity to be as vague as Zamir but in a different manner. Beverly Hedgepeth portrays the character of Felicity’s mother as Luella and she is totally unconvinced about this marriage. Luella is in her own world relating things of theatre and combining the realities of real life with the roles played in the theatre.
Leonard, the hilarious character played by Pat Frank is a crazy conservative who wants to help bring down the domestic terrorists. He is supported by his friends Hildegarde, played by Tracy Clark and Looney Tunes, played by Josh Rapp. There is a bit of romance blooming between Leonard and Hildegrade and the latter is ready to do anything for Leonard. It is amazing to see Felicity’s parents who are miles apart in their nature. It did not surprise to me seeing that Leonard was not happy meeting Zamir and vice versa, because of the conservative nature of Leonard and his belief on Zamir that he might be a terrorist. Relying on Leonard’s reaction on Zamir, Felicity believes that Zamir might be a terrorist. It is amusing to see Luella who is busy trying to discuss about theatre in this serious situation where two people in resentment stand in front of each other.
I like Christopher Durang’s plays, but after watching this play I was trying to analyze if I could correlate to one of his earlier shows, as I could not really answer my own question regarding the theme of the play, whether it was the smashing of the conservatives, or a comedy play or a Dr. Who special, whatever it was I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent on this play, though most of the audience left in between the intermission. The long duration of the show left me a bit confused but nevertheless it was worth a watch. After watching this show in the Cookville area I have a strong feeling that this show will be accepted by other audience in the conservative South. This show can be enjoyed if it is not taken too seriously and the actors have put in a splendid performance.