Theater review: ‘Death and the Maiden’ is a harrowing political allegory at Connecticut Repertory Theatre

Add one more to the recent spate of theater shows about empowered yet imperiled women.

“Death and the Maiden” at UConn’s Connecticut Repertory Theatre follows on the heels of the ensemble drama “Roe” at the same theater last month. There have also been the two “Medea”-themed plays — “The Art of Burning” at Hartford Stage and “Mojada” at Yale Repertory Theatre — “Espejos: Clean” at Hartford Stage in January, “Indecent” at Playhouse on Park and community theater productions of “Doubt,” “Agnes of God” and the new play “Wife/Worker/Whore.”

You could even include the recent national tours of “Six” at The Bushnell and the misogyny-aware Broadway revival of “My Fair Lady” at the Waterbury Palace.

All these works concern victimized women, most of whom get to tell their side of the story but few of whom receive what could be considered justice for their suffering. And more than half of these scripts, including “Death and the Maiden,” were written by men, which can raise other concerns.

Some of these programming choices came in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last year, an excellent time to reexamine issues of gender politics onstage, but there’s more to the trend than that.

Even when some of the productions did not live up to their potential, there’s an immense upside to all this: Great, challenging roles for women, and lots of them.

“Death and the Maiden” is a modern classic that took the theater world by storm when it was first produced in Chile and England in 1990. The 1992 Broadway premiere was directed by Mike Nichols and starred Glenn Close, Richard Dreyfuss and Gene Hackman.

The director of the UConn production is Gary M. English, a former artistic director of Connecticut Repertory Theatre and a longtime professor in UConn’s Dramatic Arts department who teaches a class in theater and human rights. He’s been using “Death and the Maiden” in his classroom curriculum for years but has never directed the show before now.

English takes a formal, theatrical approach to this often violent, visceral drama about a woman named Paulina who unexpectedly comes back into contact with a doctor who tortured her as a political prisoner during a regime change in an unnamed South American country.

Everything about “Death and the Maiden” — its vague setting, its characters with mysterious pasts, its long conversations and antagonistic action scenes — screams “Political Allegory!” The characters aren’t just vehicles for virulent debates, they can be seen to represent certain types of political leaders, parties and governments.

At UConn, it plays like a dark political cartoon staged as film noir. The violence is physically active but visually non-grotesque, with bright slashes of red used to suggest deep fresh bloody wounds and rope/gag restraints that are effective without appearing too painful.

The terror here is mostly psychological. When Paulina discovers the doctor unexpectedly in her home, learning his name (Roberto) and seeing his face for the first time, she ties him to a living room chair. Then she fills her husband Gerardo in on what’s going on. He waffles from helpful to incredulous. Roberto meanwhile is saying or doing whatever he can to escape. None of them completely trust or understand the others, though it’s Paulina who must prove her convictions most often.

Two MFA acting students, Samantha Seawolf and Paul Flores, and undergraduate Alex Winnick are charged with performing this tricky, wordy, shadowy and multi-layered piece. Their innate youthfulness and vitality add an intriguing element of strength and resilience to these world-weary middle-aged characters. Seawolf shows strength and resolves without letting her role turn into a revenge fantasy. Flores and Winnick balance macho and misogynist traits with fear and vulnerability.

The show’s design fits with its cinematic style, with moody lighting by Hannah Nicole Corbett, a sturdy and ornate living room set by Michael Chybowski and a menacing sound design by Jake Neighbors.

With such a consistent tone, the show’s famous fantasy-like final scene plays beautifully, and the whole intermissionless 100-minute show builds steadily and emotionally. This is no small trick given the number of fights, shouts, shots and other surprises that happen. When there is physical action, it’s fluid. When the fireworks are verbal, they’re almost poetic in how the actors emphasize certain words or phrases. The small boxy Studio Theatre space contains all the energy tightly, yet the show does not burst its seams.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre is able to give “Death and the Maiden” a compelling, thought-provoking production without becoming too disturbing or overwhelming.

“Death and the Maiden” runs through Sunday at Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s Studio Theatre, 802 Bolton Road on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs. There are performances Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Masks are required at the Sunday performance. $10-$25. crt.uconn.edu.