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Regional Reviews: Washington, D.C. The Motion Also see Susan's review of Purlie Victorious
The action begins conventionally enough as a moderator (Nancy Robinette) welcomes the audience to a debate over the use of animals for experimental medical research. Director Hana S. Sherif places her cast like chess pieces on Tim Mackabee's bare-bones set: to one side, in favor of animal testing, Dr. Alan James (Barzin Akhavan) and Prof. Lily Chan (Peregrine Teng Heard); facing them from the other side of the stage, opponents Dr. Sarah Matthis (Nikkole Salter) and Prof. Neel Bharara (Nehal Joshi). After a few minutes of opening remarks–the primary issue is whether animals have the right to be free from deliberate cruelty for medical reasons or if they are not sufficiently self-aware for that to be an issue–the audience expects a fairly straightforward back-and-forth with each team attempting to change the minds of the other, as well as the audience. And then things get weird, beginning with flashes of telepathy among the participants and leading into an utterly different and seemingly illogical reality. The characters are self-aware enough to accept that they are now "living in a dream," or perhaps that they themselves are subjects in a galactic experiment. Mackabee's set reveals a modern, elegant living space where the four participants get to know each other better and, with the help of Jason Lynch's lighting design and some clever scenic effects, plants grow and time passes. The audience is as mystified as the characters until they realize that, as with lab animals, any decision that affects others may become more difficult to justify once it personally affects the people facing it. Robinette, a longtime fixture of D.C. theater, radiates calm as the apparently neutral figure watching from outside the terrarium-like world. The four other actors maintain their poise in this surrealistic landscape, managing to depict normalcy in a living situation that makes no conscious sense. The fact that the characters have other costumes they can change into (designed by Mike Eubanks) suggests that these four are not completely isolated or alone; they can buy or find clothes and buy seeds to plant in the garden. This uncertainty is the point. The Motion runs through June 14, 2026, at Arena Stage, Fichandler Stage, Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 6th St. SW, Washington DC. For tickets and information, please call 202-488-3300 or visit www.arenastage.org. By Christopher Chen Cast: |
