Wait Is Over for ‘Purgatorio’ at Next Act Theatre

In the years since itopened, the intimate stage of the Off-Broadway Theatre has served as countlesslocations. Now through the end of February, it transforms into a sort ofafterlife in Next ActTheatre’s production of Ariel Dorfman’sPurgatorio. It’s a place theplaywright envisions as “A white room. Austere. No decorations.” Staying trueto the script, the Next Act production is very minimalist. Next Act ProducingArtistic Director David Cecsarini, who designed the set, is also the sounddesigner. “Sound-wise, it'll be spare as well,” Cecsarini says. “I mean, whatsounds do they have in Purgatory?”

In addition to creatingthe physical end of Purgatory, Cecsarini will also play one of its twoinhabitants, a nameless man who is found interviewing a woman at the beginningof the story. Milwaukeetheater icon Angela Iannone plays the woman. Joining Cecsarini and Iannone inthe project is director Mary MacDonald Kerr. Kerr, Cecsarini and Iannone haveworked together in a number of capacities over the years. The benefit of thatexperience between talented actors should help to craft a truly compellingdrama.

“Those two ladies aresmart and thorough,” Cecsarini says of his collaborators, “which certainlymakes rehearsals interesting … Mary has an unrelenting ear for meaning, logicand clarity, which is absolutely necessary if we're going to tell a clear storydriven almost entirely by words.”

In those words we findout about the characters. In keeping with the traditional idea of Purgatory,both man and woman must reach a state of contrition before they are allowed toleave the uncomfortably bare space and get on with the rest of theirafterlives.

Dorfman has patternedthe man and woman after Jason and Medea from the legends of ancient Greece. As thestory is delivered in part from the woman’s dialogue, we see her perspective onthe story. It’s a task that presents Iannone with interesting challenges. Medeamurdered the two children she had with Jason. The woman in Dorfman’s script hasto come to terms with multiple murders as well. Bringing that emotional realityto the stage is precisely the sort of thing Iannone has had such success withover the years. Based on Iannone’s talent and the presence of an equallytalented Cecsarini, Next Act will be presenting a very dynamic Purgatory.

Next Act’s Purgatorio runs through Feb. 21 at theOff-Broadway Theatre.