The Constructivists’ Tightly Constructed Dystopia

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The Constructivists

The Constructivists dive into bleak comedic darkness with Calamity West’s The Canyon. It’s a gradual descent into dystopian hell in a thoughtful march of scenes which stretch out from the recent past into the near future. A sparklingly clever Caroline Norton plays Hope—a woman of inspiring strength and humor. As the play opens, she is returning home after her second abortion. She’s not feeling well, and the world isn’t doing a good job of helping her rest. The scenes continue from there through the beginning of the Trump administration to an era of shortages and censorship to eras of even greater oppression. Through it all, Hope is able to maintain some level of grim optimism that carries from year to year.   

West’s script mixes sharply crafted humor with dramatic energy drawn from Hollywood action movies. All of the elements are deftly drawn around a dystopian story that feels strikingly plausible. West has been cleverly precise about delivering just the right mix of moments to make it all feel so very real in spite of how unlikely it all feels. The fact that she’s able to do this while making quite so many references to The Usual Suspects is really impressive.  

Director Jaimelyn Gray moves the scenes along briskly through the decades. She’s working with an inspired cast who draw equally on the sophisticated satire AND Hollywood action energies to develop something truly special. Autumn Green plays a couple of deeply nuanced roles including Hope’s roommate in the earl 2000s. Matt Specht plays the darker side of humanity with thoughtful empathy. Sarah Zapiain brings a cleverly vulnerable dynamic to the stage as a couple of characters from different years resting in the margins of accepted society.  

The Constructivists’ production of In the Canyon runs through Oct. 26 at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Studio Theatre. For more information, visit the Constructivists online.