Subject matter takes play to the extreme

Friday, Sept. 21, 2001 | 9:05 a.m.

After searching for a local theater company that was willing to produce a controversial and disturbing psychodrama about rape, local director Joseph Hammond finally found a company that was up to the challenge.

Jade Productions Inc. will present "Extremities" with Teatro Angst and Community Action Against Rape, through Sunday at Whitney Library Concert Hall.

"It's such a strong piece," co-producer Joy Demain, president and artistic director of Jade Productions, said about the play, which was first performed in 1981. "I felt compelled to do it." (The 1986 movie of the same name starred Farrah Fawcett.)

Though other theater companies turned down the opportunity to produce the play, Demain said that after reading the script, it was clear to her "that instead of being a violent play, it had a real strong message that people needed to see."

"Theater is not always pretty. Just like life," she said. "(Rape) is something that happens to people. It's an issue that people deal with. Many people have had this happen to them or know someone (who did)."

Hammond and Demain expect audience members to shift uneasily in their seats during the play's violent attack scene, which is followed by equally intense dialogue.

But this is what Mastrosimone, a playwright from Trenton, N.J., intended when he wrote the graphic play 20 years ago.

"Extremities" was inspired by a true story of a woman who was raped, underwent a humiliating pelvic exam, then watched the rapist go free when the case against him was dismissed due to lack of evidence.

The woman, who was devastated and agonized by the experience, later told Mastrosimone that she longed for a chance to confront her attacker and see justice delivered.

With "Extremities," Mastrosimone gave this chance to her -- if only through the script -- when one of the play's main characters, Marjorie (played by Hillary Crouse), confronts an attacker who has forced himself into her house to rape her.

The rape is not committed. But what unravels is a chilling reversal of roles when the attacker (played by Robt Blomgren) finds himself at Marjorie's mercy after she overcomes him, binds him, then shoves him into a fireplace where he is held as she begins to administer her revenge.

"When (Marjorie) gets the upper hand on Raul, she really tears into him," Hammond said. "Does she justify revenge? Hell, yeah. But where's the line?

"If (the play) works totally successfully, couples will be arguing on their way out the door," he added.

More importantly, he said, it will create an open dialogue about rape and its consequences. "It's a subject we keep quiet. Nobody wants to talk about it. It's a subject that has been buried. Less than 20 percent of rapes are reported."

Staff members from Community Action Against Rape, a local, nonprofit sexual assault prevention and intervention organization that provides education and supportive services to community members and rape victims, will be in the lobby at each performance of the play. They will provide information and talk with people whose whose emotions might be triggered by the performance.

"'Extremities" is Jade Productions' first production of its 2001-02 season. Upcoming performances include the musicals "The World Goes Round," "Showtune" and the play "That Championship Season."

Hammond said his company, Teatro Angst, will continue to present plays with controversial subject matter.

"We want to put social consciousness back into theater," he said. "We don't see a lot of that in town. There's a whole group of young people with a lot of things on their minds who don't thing theater is a viable alternative to TV."

Hammond said he expects "Extremities" to draw in younger audience members, people between the ages of 20-40.

He added, "('Extremities') causes people to have conversations about this subject (rape), which is what theater is supposed to do -- make people think."