By Michele Markarian
The Last Act. Written by Joshua Sobol. Directed by Guy Ben-Aharon. Presented by Israeli Stage Company, Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, through June 1.
The Last Act, a world premiere by reknowned Israeli playwright Joshua Sobol, couldn’t get produced in Israel’s government-sponsored theaters for fear of losing funding (reader, I must confess, as someone who is a little disenchanted with US politics right now, I felt a certain amount of schadenfreude upon learning this). Israel’s loss is our gain; this excellent, tautly constructed play is a statement, not just about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but what happens when we let currents of the zeitgeist influence our better instincts. One can certainly relate the events of The Last Act to what is happening with the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as anti-Muslim, anti-Mexican, anti-Semitism, anti-other sentiments in America today. The added element of Big Brother makes The Last Act a very, very timely and universal piece.
Gilly (Annelise Lawson) is auditioning for a production of Strindberg’s Miss Julie. While she appears to be suggestively flirting with the clueless director (Craig Mathers, who also doubles as Gilly’s husband, Ethan)’ she is actually quoting lines from the script. The director loses patience with her and calls the next actor in, a Palestinian named Djul (Louis Abd El Massih). Unapologetically, the director tells Djul he is looking to cast someone “pure”, but allows him the opportunity to audition anyway. Djul and Gilly know each other, they’ve worked together before, and during their improv it is clear from the director’s reactions that neither of them will get cast in the production. They decide to stage their own production, and commence working on scenes in the apartment that Gilly shares with Ethan. It’s here that the trouble begins. Ethan is actually a government agent, working for Dana (Marianna Bassham), who insists that Djul is working for Hamas. (She has surmised this based on cameras that are set up in Gilly and Ethan’s apartment.) The lines Gilly and Djul say to one another, are they Strindberg’s, or their own? We know the answer, as does Ethan, but in a politicized environment where lines are drawn and everyone is suspect, mistrust creeps in.
In a world where Big Brother – and Big Data – appear to be lurking behind the most innocuous of Facebook posts, The Last Act is a chilling and apt commentary on today’s culture. “If people only knew how exposed they are, even in their most intimate moments,”, Ethan says to Gilly, as a sort of warning. Gilly, even as she suspects she’s being watched, is an idealist; she and Djul are planning to launch the Arab/Jewish Enterprise. But just like the characters in Miss Julie, theirs is not an alliance that can survive in modern-day Israel.
It’s a taut, tense piece, with excellent performances from its cast members. Lawson is one of those actresses who naturally draws attention, primarily because she’s so interesting to watch. She plays with Djul like a fascinated cat plays with a toy. Abd El Messiah has a low-key and focused intensity. He and Lawson share a curious compatibility that, in many ways, is sympathetic. Marianna Bassham is all business as Donna, which also works well against the unhappy ambivalence of Mathers’s Ethan. It’s a nice balance.
Cristina Todesco’s excellent set, with its movable metal gates serving as walls, adds to the tension of this smart, modern and provocative piece. For tickets and more information, go to: http://www.israelistage.com
