Marquette University Students Dramatize Injustice in 'Image of an Unknown Young Woman'

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The intricate tangle of society, technology, politics and oppression in the modern era are intimately explored by Marquette University Theatre’s staging of Elinor Cook’s Image of an Unknown Young Woman. Director Debra Krajec orchestrates an ensemble through restless uncertainty at how precisely to react to proof of injustice in a world which continues to crumble around them. All seating for the drama is onstage, turning the spacious Helfaer Theatre into a confrontationally intimate space. Popular frustration over injustice is cleverly distilled in restless movements across a disheveled set.

Amelia Thompson is desperately distant as a young woman searching for her mother amidst the chaos of an uprising against a fascist government. Her concerns are cast against popular outrage over a video of a woman in a yellow dress being tortured by police that has been circulating online. One woman is lost in the aggressive tide of a population trying to make sense of human brutality.

Abby Wass touchingly plays Candace, a wealthy guilt-ridden woman donating to a woman working for change in the nation. Katerina Pourliakas is cold and fiercely determined as a young refugee of the regime who harnesses Candace’s guilt in order to advance the cause of revolution in the nation.

It’s extremely dark stuff, but the drama is not without some humor. There’s a particularly charming moment as Candace leads a couple of bratty schoolgirls to her car. Elsewhere, a much-needed infusion of comedy comes by way of an irrepressibly cheerful waitress in a café that doesn’t have much to offer in the midst of the unrest.

Through Feb. 24 at Helfaer Theatre, on 525 N. 13th St. For tickets, call 414-288-7504.