Death and the Maiden

Thank you for the invitation to join you for the fringe production of Death and The Maiden. The play mixed politics, psychology, and brutality into a production which at first felt like it would be difficult to watch, but despite being full of emotional and physical violence, was not. Set to a coastal soundscape of crashing waves, so too the production ebbed and flowed from heightened moments of aggression and tension to deafening silences, masterfully taking the audience along with the current. This excellent cast with clever direction brought a piece of drama that was gripping and thought provoking throughout and in a strange way despite the uncomfortable topic, enjoyable to watch. 

The play was brilliantly directed, building on the tensions created by real life experiences of torture and focusing on the violence both emotional and physical that can follow. The set was a simple design which allowed the depth of the words and actions of the play to dominate. Keeping Dr Miranda sat on stage, blindfolded and bound throughout Gerado’s and Paulina’s deep conversations was very powerful and increased the tension and I found myself fearful of what was going to happen to him. The three actors were brilliant, bringing all of the emotion and horror of the play matter to their performances very naturally. The subject matter of the play still resonates today with all of the political atrocities that continue to occur and are very much in our minds and this was reflected by the clever use of a mirror to reflect Paulina’s feelings as she listened to her trigger music. At this moment of heightened drama and emotion, the audience faces the threats we face today, forced to painfully ask…. ‘what has changed?’.

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