Fringe, Reviewed: Bent

[ theater ]

Bent, by Truth Be Told Productions

Attended: Sat. Sept. 13, 8 p.m., Power Plant Productions; closes Sept. 20

This play centers around Max, a gay man living the good life in 1930s Berlin until he finds himself in Dachau. Through his relationship with another prisoner, Horst, he regains his self-respect. A harrowing, overpoweringly intense, and at times violent story about the treatment of homosexuals by their own countrymen before World War II unfolds, collapses and rebuilds around you.

WE THINK:

Truth Be Told Productions’ inaugural effort, Martin Sherman’s minimalist play Bent, is very effectively staged here. The Power Plant basement’s concrete walls and high ceiling greatly contribute to the play’s brutal feel. Moreover, the use of sound effects and lighting especially to convey everything from a nightclub in 1930s Berlin to the harsh sun beating down in Dachau is particularly striking.

Bent has Max (Tom Trudgeon) and his lover Rudy (an excellent Chris Melohn) trying to stay safe as the Nazis storm Berlin. Eventually they are captured and Max is sent to a concentration camp where he befriends Horst (Doug Cashell), a gay man, and falls in love before another tragedy occurs.

Sherman’s play is certainly heavy, and watching Max and Horst engage in the Sisyphean task of moving rocks from one side of the stage to the other, and then back again for the entire second act is pretty laudable (and, truth be told, a little tedious). This fine production reveals the layers of meaning as Max experiences an emotional rollercoaster over the course of the show. To Bent’s benefit, Tom Trudgeon essays the play’s central character, a restless, persuasive gay man, who refuses to conform. He is also a schemer. Trudgeon plays him with considerable élan; a moving speech Max gives about how he got the Yellow Star (Jew) and not the Pink Triangle (Gay) may be the show’s highlight.

Doug Cashell is shaky in his first big scene, but in Act 2, he improves. His “sex” scene with Max—the men stand side-by-side without looking at each other, conversing perversely—is quite seductive. He also conveys the chill and sickness Horst develops rather well. The show is strongest when the characters—Max and Rudy, or Max and Horst—talk to each other with pregnant pauses, or revealing themselves through call-and-response with Nazi guards. These rhythmic exchanges are hypnotic.

There is also scene-stealing work by Paul McNair, as Max’s uncle Freddie, and Bob Mason is very forceful in his dramatic scenes. However, when Mason belts out a song as Greta, his singing is fine, but the performance seems to be a bit overdone. As Wolf, a guy Max picks up for a tryst, Taylor Darden looks good sans clothes.

Two critical notes: the biggest problem with this production of Bent is that the stage and seating are all on the same level. Unless audience members are in the front row, several scenes are difficult to see. A key episode involving Rudy’s glasses being stepped on was lost for viewers in the back.

Also: the shows running time in the program —100 minutes — is incorrect. The play runs close to three hours, including a 15-minute intermission.