The potential for incest hangs over In A Forest, Dark and Deep like a huge thundercloud just waiting for lightning to strike. Once Bobby (Carlo Marks) comes into his sister鈥檚 lakeside hideaway (designed by Triane Tambay, lit by Graham Ockley), you can feel brother/sister sex in the air. If the production had a smell, it would be musky.
This is no Hansel and Gretel story. If you鈥檙e looking for light entertainment, playwright Neil LaBute (Dark Dark House, Shape of Things, Bash) consistently never provides it. In A Forest is a searing exploration of a relationship that swings ferociously to and from all points on the sibling relationship compass: carnality, conditional/unconditional love, rivalry, jealousy and the happy or unhappy familiarity of a shared past.
Ably directed by Tamara McCarthy for Naked Goddess Productions, it鈥檚 an excellent vehicle for two actors and an emotional rollercoaster 鈥� more intensity than some theatregoers will be able to withstand.
LaBute has been called 鈥淎merican theatre鈥檚 reigning misanthrope鈥� by the Village Voice and even LaBute鈥檚 wife says he writes to shock his audience. There鈥檚 plenty of shock in this forest and lots of words your mother forbade you to say.
But LaBute does deal with some material that doesn鈥檛 come up very often: the destructive 鈥� yet sexually arousing 鈥� effect of a promiscuous older sister on a younger brother. Betty (Sandra Medeiros) is, by most people鈥檚 definition, a slut. She鈥檚 been sleeping with anyone and everyone for years. Brother Bobby caught Betty, age 15, fellating one of her teachers who subsequently lost his job, his wife and his family.
Her behaviour continued even after her marriage although she took a break until she discovered her husband was sleeping with his secretary.
She鈥檚 not only promiscuous, she鈥檚 an irredeemable liar. And a sort-of Christian. Is sleeping with one of her college students actually against God鈥檚 law? She has to ask?
LaBute, unfortunately, gives only scraps of back-story 鈥� not nearly enough 鈥� to explain Betty鈥檚 rampant sexuality. Maybe dad didn鈥檛 love her enough. Maybe dad was having sex with her. So all we鈥檙e left with is: Betty鈥檚 a bad, bad girl. The play, therefore, is drenched in misogyny.
Brother Bobby is no saint, either. He鈥檚 coarse, abusive, would definitely have sex with Betty if she鈥檇 let him and despite the integrity he boasts about having, when the truth finally comes out, he has none.
Medeiros and Marks are fantastic together. There鈥檚 a lot for Medeiros to work with: Betty is a college teacher; she鈥檚 articulate, beautiful, trendily dressed in ripped jeans, an off-the-shoulder sweater and suede boots. Medeiros鈥檚 character has a journey to take. There are ups and downs and Medeiros makes all the right moves 鈥� sometimes convincing us Betty is a paragon of virtue, at other times that she鈥檚 just a bitch in heat. Medeiros does a sexy booty-shaker that, if Bobby weren鈥檛 already hot for her, he soon would be.
Bobby comes in already a little boozed up and ready for a fight. And he escalates from there. Marks ends up yelling on enough occasions to have your stomach tied up in knots. And he maintains an element of physical menace that keeps us wondering when Bobby will completely lose it.
Terrific performances, both.
While I appreciate LaBute tackling tough subjects, I can鈥檛 say I like his work. In A Forest is highly charged theatre and I was engaged all the time. But there鈥檚 an indescribable something missing: does In A Forest, Dark and Deep have any redeeming value other than its theatricality? It ends up being a kind of thriller with the bad guys wondering if they鈥檝e disobeyed the Ten Commandments. If not, it鈥檚 all OK. She鈥檚 a bitch and he wants into her pants. Ultimately, who gives a damn?
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In A Forest, Dark and Deep is at Havana Theatre until May 30. Tickets at . Details at .
