REVIEW by
Willard Manus
LOS ANGELES -- Don Nigro's taut one-act play NECROPOLIS is set in a shabby
room in an unnamed city whose citizens are fighting a civil war in the
streets. Divisions of another kind separate the play's two characters:
Anna (Francesca Nina O'Keefe) and Post (Jim Thalman). The latter is an
American journalist covering the war; the former a combatant, a pistol-packin',
stressed-out mama serving "her people" as a sniper. They've
just met, liked the look in each other's eyes, and decided to pop into
bed. The sex is great, but then reality--history and character--take over.
He can't understand how she could kill people on demand. She can't understand
his hypocrisy (didn't his country go around bombing innocent people all
the time?) or his professed objectivity. They argue politics, morality,
commitment, love, lust and their future together. There isn't much else
to the hour-long play, but its actors, helped by John DiFusco's strong
direction, skilfully flesh out the tension and conflicts in the text.
NECROPOLIS is a love story poisoned by the irrationality and violence
of our time.
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