Having just moved to the Sunset Playhouse from parts further west, The Actors Group begins its new season with William Mastrosimone's contemporary drama, "Extremities." When a young woman manages to ensnare a stranger who tried to rape her in her own home, her two roommates return uncertain of how to react to the mysterious captured man. It's a social drama with interesting philosophical implications that's remarkably well-written in places in spite of moments of rather weak dialogue.
Libby Amato stars as Marjorie, the victim of the attempted rape. As the play opens, she's casually lounging around the living room of a secluded farmhouse when the stranger stops by. Tall, thin Jason Waszak plays the seedy gentleman who comes by the house under the pretense of looking for a friend of his. Things progress quite uncomfortably between the two characters until the stranger finally pounces on Marjorie.
As uncomfortable as it is to watch a rape scene in the rather intimate confines of the Sunset Playhouse's studio theatre, it can't be easy for the actors or the director either. They deserve credit just for attempting to show such a vile and disgusting act in full view. Sexual assault remains such a tragically common crime that drama needs to address it live onstage every now and then to serve as a reminder that it still happens.
The problem with this particular staging of the act is that it simply doesn't approach a believable level of brutality. Waszak is tall enough to be imposing, but he's so thin that it's difficult to believe him overpowering the attractive, powerfully-built Amato. The act is seedy and disgusting, but it looks like Amato could overpower Waszak at any moment. Without a believable feeling of desperation, Marjorie's reaction to the act over the course of the rest of the play comes across as being a little over-the-top. This is a pity, as Amato does an excellent job in the role.
The problem here would appear to lie in Waszak, who seems to be unsuccessfully struggling to find the very complicated character of the attempted rapist throughout the play. Mastrosimone wrote a complicated danger into the character that exists in multiple levels of brutality that still manages to come across as being believably human in the end. Waszak hasn't found enough life to give to the depth Mastrosimone wrote into the character. Waszak plays the vulnerability the character has towards the end of the play remarkably well, but without really giving life to the character's dangerous side, his performance falls flat.
Susan Currie plays Terry, the first roommate to come home. Currie puts in her usually compelling performance from the margins of the play. She speaks the dialogue given to her character with strength and conviction that fleshes her out perfectly, but as things progress between Terry, Marjorie and the captured attempted rapist, it slowly becomes clear that the characters are written to be considerably younger than the people playing them onstage, which serves as a minor added distraction from the drama.
Laura Holterman rounds out the cast as Patricia, the final room mate to come home. Patricia, being the most level-headed person in the production serves as the voice of reason. Such a character in a play like this could easily come off as a plot device, but Holterman plays it with a humanity that adds depth to the dramatic dynamics of the story.
The Actors Group's production of Extremities plays through April 1st at The Sunset Playhouse's Studio Theatre. Tickets range in price from $12 to $15 and can be purchased by calling the box office at (262) 782-4430.
