Audiences Transported by 'Concentration City'

Author: Claire Bourne

In a walled-in metropolis, where does one find a place to breathe, to live, to fly? Mattheson, the main character in last weekend's theater production "Concentration City," believes the answer lies beyond the city limits, in a space described as the Terminal Beach. Suffocating under the hand of a government bent on destroying ideas, he embarks on a quest to locate "free space" in which to test his visionary flying machine.

Such was the premise of the Redux Theatre Company's fifth production in its two-year existence at Middlebury College. Based on three short stories by J. G. Ballard, the piece, performed last weekend in the Hepburn Zoo, was authored by Alex Poe '03, currently studying in Paris, and directed by Joseph Varca '02.

Since its inception, the Poe-Varca partnership has built up a reputation for thought-provoking theater through such innovative projects as "City of Glass," "System Shock," "Frank's Wild Years" and, most recently, "Somewhat Damaged." "Concentration City" continued in this tradition, taking the audience on a psychological journey through one man's mind — from the claustrophobic city that stifles his creative impulse to the void on the other side of the walls where he encounters infinite free space.

Varca's set and lighting design were particularly effective in that it mirrored Mattheson's mental progression from restriction to complete liberation. Audience members were closed in the performance space on three sides, while a metal grid hung against the fourth and across the ceiling beams.

In the first scene, Mattheson (played by Tim Brownell '02) stumbled into the boxed-in area where he maneuvered himself into the middle of a spiral of over-turned chairs. High-hanging orange lights cast a shadow of the metal grid over the scene and contributed to the sense of Mattheson's physical and psychological imprisonment.

On one level, Mattheson was restrained by his intense desire to transcend the confines of his own urban environment. However, it was soon evident that the government had detained him to eradicate this very yearning. Placed under the surveillance and care of Dr. Neil (played by Sean Nelson '02), Mattheson undergoes an operation to purge him of the need to sleep and therefore of the capacity to dream.

After days without slumber, Mattheson's insomnia turned to a momentary panic during which he and his friends — Gregson (played by Varca) and Avery (played by Liam Aiello '05) — shifted the chairs, a Redux trademark, around the performance space and slamed them against the floor. Directly following this commotion, the three men found themselves in the middle of a vast, open space known only as the Terminal Beach.

The orange and blue lighting and the shadow of the metal grid were replaced with a simple white light. Juxtaposed with the tumult of the preceding scene, the empty space signified Mattheson's ultimate liberation from the constraints of urban society, even if the Terminal Beach was only a figment of his imagination.

"He breaks apart conventional notions of reality looking for the truth, and finally arrives at nothingness," said Poe in an e-mail from Paris where he is studying.

"It gets Zen at the end," Varca remarked. "Even if the ending is happening in Mattheson's mind, there is hope. You have a claustrophobic universe that doesn't let anyone breathe, but there is a possibility within that society."

Furthermore, the use of blinding spotlights and the sound of an airplane engine to close the play suggested that Mattheson finally satisfied his longing to fly.

Producing "Concentration City" was unlike previous Redux projects since Poe and Varca are currently on opposite sides of the Atlantic.

Although the script was finalized over Winter Break, "there has been a lot of e-mailing back and forth to get it together," Varca explained.

Poe added, "Joe and I stayed in constant communication throughout the process, relaying information over the Redux Website and building up ridiculous phone bills."

However, having collaborated on four plays before this semester, the company co-founders have "developed a common vocabulary," Poe continued.

"Concentration City" was Varca's last Redux production as a Middlebury student, as he will be graduating in May. He recently submitted an application for "City of Glass" to the New York Fringe Festival, which, if accepted, will go up in August. Regardless, Varca plans to take the company to New York City and set up shop.

"Since we've had the company elsewhere [in Williamstown], that solidifies the fact that this can have a life outside of Middlebury," Varca commented. "[Redux] is about building a community of people who really believe in the work and have something to say."

Next up for Redux at the College is Poe's 700 theater project, entitled "The Accident of Me," for which Varca will most likely return to campus to assist with set and lighting design. Though the project is, according to Varca, still in its "larval stage," the company is planning a read through of the piece later this semester.