The Oracle

Issue date: 3/9/10 Section: Entertainment

The crew in the theater department's costume shop work on the several hats featured in the third act of Far Away

Strange, very strange.

For theatergoers looking for an eye-opening, brow-furrowing experience: look no further than Caryl Churchill's Far Away, the first of two spring plays in the 79th season of Hamline's Theater Department.

The show is divided into five acts and runs only 40 minutes but still manages to be confusing the entire way through.

The plot of Far Away is disjointed and ambiguous, but the audience is still able to pick up the basic idea. It is set in a future world filled with unnamed refugees, corrupt hatters and untrustworthy crocodiles. There is a war going on in the fifth act of the play, and it can be assumed that the seeds of this war were planted in the first act.

These things can only be assumed because the audience is never told much of anything.

The play opens with a young girl Joan, played by junior Joehey Arnold, and her aunt Harper, played by junior Katherine Monberg. Arnold's Joan comes into the living room to tell Monberg's Harper that she cannot sleep because she has heard noises outside. Joan reveals that she snuck of out the window to investigate, only to find blood and crying children hidden away in their back shed. Harper, forced to explain the situation, reveals that her husband, has been helping children escape to an "safer" place.

Already, questions arise and the seeds of distrust are planted within the audience. With no clue as to why children would need saving in this Far Away reality, the audience sat on the edges of their seats as the play shifts to act two.

But that question is never really answered. Next we jump forward in time to find Joan roughly 15 years older, played by sophomore Casey Magnuson, working at a haberdashery. She works alongside Todd, played by senior Nick Kiminski, a more experienced hatter. The series of discussions between the two seem to be the most important in the entire play, as they provide the most context, revealing secrets behind this reality the audience has been dumped into.

However, the context provided is still confusing and strange. Todd alludes to a corrupt financial policy of his employers. He also alludes to "trials," which he says he prefers to watch at night.

These trials are shown in the third act. This is easily the darkest moment in the entire piece, featuring the very hats made by Joan and Todd worn by nameless, faceless prisoners, who are paraded across the stage in a macabre sort of fashion show. The dragging of feet and the heavy tapping of crutches used by these injured and downtrodden prisoners sends shivers down the spine.

The sound and costume design hit high points in the third act during the march of the prisoners and their hats across the stage. The dark scene is contrasted by upbeat, parade-style marching music. The prisoners drag their feet completely out of step, seemingly unaware that their entire faces are covered by the extravagant hats upon their heads.

Despite the fact that there is no dialogue whatsoever during this march of prisoners, it forces the audience to reflect on perhaps the play's largest theme - acceptance of reality.

Todd and Joan seem more concerned with the fact that the financial backing to their company is corrupt than the fact, later revealed, that the prisoners are merely puppets for some strange hat judging contest, and both hat and prisoner are burned when the process is over.

This humanizing fact brings us closer to the actual reality of Far Away and forces us to self-reflect on our own. Todd and Joan seem to accept this reality, where prisoners are destroyed just as easily as superfluous, decorative head wear. Are we so accepting of some horrible truths of the world we live in?

The final act brings us further down the rabbit hole, as Todd and Harper are seen amidst a war, back in the original house with barricaded windows and boxes of rations littering the floor. They discuss fervently who in this world can be trusted now that the war is raging, but instead of only questioning the roles of humans, they question the roles of animals and nature itself.

Harper makes ridiculous assertions, such as crocodiles can never be trusted and mallards cause rape. Magnuson's character enters the stage to deliver her final monologue - while on the way home, she could not even trust the water in the river she had to cross.

This final monologue is confusing at first but powerful upon reflection. Far Away becomes a world where literally nothing can be trusted - from humans to animals to the very grass they walk on.

In total, 40 minutes spent "far away" was interesting but also extremely confusing. All that can be expected is a feeling of uncertainty - a sinking in your stomach that is inexplicable. It can only be explained by watching it acted out. The point is not to necessarily understand the logistics. Rather, let emotions run rampant. The strange tale of Far Away is merely attempting to show you what could be.

Upcoming performances:

March 11, 12, 13
All performances are at 7:30 p.m.
Anne Simley Theater.
Box office information:
tickets@hamline.edu, x2905

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eburgess@hamlineoracle.com

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