by Neal Weaver
Date December 05, 2004
When a playwright, or his character, begins by telling us he's going to move us, change us and terrify us, he's asking for it: "Oh, yeah? Wanna bet?" Christian Simeon's monodrama, adapted and directed by Paul Verdier, features a young man (Eric Szmanda) about to be executed for the murder of his mother and his male lover. The young man, Benoit, isn't interested in telling a consistent story. He assures us that he committed the murder, then that he didn't, and then again that he did. His real purpose is to force a bloody confrontation between himself and us. (In his view, we are the hyenas.) He tries desperately to persuade us that sending him to the guillotine is an act of horror, whether he's innocent or guilty. But he has already put our guard up: There's no compelling reason to confer sympathy, particularly since he seems to be obnoxious, unreliable and treacherous. It's an extremely French piece, placing intellectual thrust above emotional appeal, and generating little empathy, despite exemplary work by Szmanda, who holds his audience's attention rapt throughout.
Circle X Theater Company and Stages Theater Center, 1540 N. McCadden Pl., Hlywd.; Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 & 7 p.m.; thru Dec. 5. (323) 465-1010.
