For the last play in the Bales this season the theatre department daringly chose Ariel Dorfman’s “Death and the Maiden”. A fitting choice since the story is about closure for the play’s Paulina Escobar (played by Stacy Searle) from her angst-ridden past. Searle’s wide-eyed portrayal of the borderline mad Escobar is almost scary to watch. She holds the life of Dr. Roberto Miranda (Chris Hardin) in her shaky hands as she tries to determine if he really is the doctor that tortured her 15 years ago and what degree of revenge she will extract. Hardin doesn’t have many lines as Miranda spends most of the play in bondage but relies on his body movements to convey the sense of fear and his isolation from society’s conventional thoughts of right and wrong. Gerardo Escobar (Thomas Azar), Paulina’s husband, acts as an innocent bystander who is morally caught between the decision to satisfy his wife’s desire for closure and revenge while trying to convince her that perhaps the courts would be a better way to seek justice. Azar seems to have a knack for playing morally torn characters; he did an excellent job playing Adolphus Cusins in Major Barbara but he performed even better this time around as a commanding lead role. 

    As far as the technical aspects go I must applaud director Andrew Crusse’s bold decision to even bring this play to Tuscaloosa much less portray it on an abstract set design rather than the secluded beach house that Dorfman’s script asks for. While I understand that the set now takes on a larger role in supporting the weighty messages that this play contains, I believe that the common theater-goers will find that the abstract design will strain their threshold of belief. The set itself was well designed while the lighting helped to convey chaos and the loss of sanity and somehow allowed you to feel hope at the end. With this production Jeff Davis surpassed his lighting in Fifth of July, which was also superb. Granted, it is a little different than what most people are used to, but “Death and the Maiden” is a production that will open your eyes and broaden your perspective.