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Argentinian- Chilean – American playwright Ariel Dorfman’s play Death and The Maiden (1990) is one of the  great plays. The Sydney Theatre Company has put on the play twice, once with Helen Morse in the lead role, the other time Susie Porter. It caught Roman Polanski’s attention who adapted it for the cinema in a production starring Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley.

The play  features a haunting scenario; Pauline Salas is a former political prisoner in an unnamed Latin American  country who has been raped by her captors, led by a sadistic doctor whose face she never saw. The rapist doctor played Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 , subtitled Death and  the Maiden, one of the finest pieces of music ever composed, during the rape.

The inner west avant garde theatre company Stacks On have chosen a less  well known Dorfman work PURGATORIO as its final production for 2022.

This is another very emotionally raw work. An unnamed man and woman have entered purgatory – a holding bay- will they get an exit pass or will they end up going to hell? Both have done terrible things to each other and are interrogated in turn by the other. Each has to reach a state of forgiveness and contrition- responsibility for their actions before they can leave  purgatory and move on with their lives.

I found this a more difficult piece. It doesn’t hit you in the solar plexus like Death and The Maiden, still it is compelling theatre.

I did a bit of research about the play and this revealed that Dorfman wanted the play to be performed both within Israeli and Palestinian territories. He wanted audiences to see how their ‘country’ had committed terrible acts of violence as well as having been the victims of it. The play asks the questions, can forgiveness work or are some things unforgivable? Can one seek justice and forgiveness without lapsing into violence?

The Stacks On Theatre Company production is highly charged. Lachlan Stevenson’s production never lets up on the tension. Actors James Thomasson and Jessica Paterson’s  retain their focus and intensity through the performance.

Kudos to Stacks On Theatre Company for taking on  such a  difficult play and giving it their best shot.

PURGATORIO is playing Flow Studios in Camperdown until 3rd December 2022.