“Battered” Tackles
Domestic Abuse
A clever examination of commitment, hypocrisy and therapy
By Byron Toben
Infinitheatre is a sort of Unsinkable Molly Brown among the fine English theatre groups in Montreal. “Temporarily” adrift from its bailiwick at the Bain St. Michel while that site is undergoing never ending renovations, it has maintained a stream of excellent productions at the 3rd floor walk up Rialto studio (thanks to the cooperation of Rialto owner Ezio Carosielli).
In the course of all this, it has emerged as a sort of de facto repertory company, due to the recurrent involvement of many of its artists such as actors Howard Rosenstein and Jonathan Silver, directors Ellen David and Diana Fajrajsl, artistic director Guy Sprung and writers Oren Safdie, David Sherman, Alison Grant and Arthur Holden.
It is Mr Holden (a playwright with an actor background) who has written the present show, Battered. And an outstanding cast has been assembled to deliver the text. Brett Watson plays Bobby, an insecure aimless soul in a Pink Floyd T-shirt who was living with Filomena (Gitanjali Jain), the owner of a coffee bar on Monkland Avenue, until the incident precipitating this plot. In an argument over whether to adopt kittens, he had shoved her to the floor where she broke her arm.
…this play does not go into deeply damaged, serious life threatening actions as a host of sensationalist stage, TV and film productions have done. Rather, it examines the everyday mistreatments… some inadvertent, some on purpose, that we observe or even perform.
The court orders him to attend sessions with Eleanor (Susan Glover), a psychologist. So you get a lot of therapy clichés as Bobby denies the causes of his aggression. Eleanor, divorced, is living with Frederick (Shawn Campbell), a financial advisor, also a divorcée. In Holden’s clever script, that couple’s relationship also has its underlying problems.
Under Ms Fajrajsl’s deft direction, all this flows seamlessly on the divided one set stage.
Somehow, circumstances evolve so that the four all meet in Filomena’s coffee bar as accusations heighten and one of the four gets a smackeroo in the kisser. Which one? You’ll have to go and see.
Astute theatre publicist Janis Kirshner volunteered that she thought this play had good potential in professional theatres across North America. I concur, although they will have to change the coffee bar location of Monkland to something local in each city. For Toronto, I suggest Lower Ossington.
As you may have surmised, this play does not go into deeply damaged, serious life threatening actions as a host of sensationalist stage, TV and film productions have done. Rather, it examines the everyday mistreatments… some inadvertent, some on purpose, that we observe or even perform.
By the way, I asked Mr Holden, in a Seinfeld mood, “What’s with all the Bobs? Your last play at the Centaur was The Book of Bob and here we have the lead character a Bobby.” He chalked it up to co-incidence, but inspired by his character Eleanor, I think the question demands a deeper consideration.
Battered continues at the Rialto studio until November 6.
Tickets and information at 514 987-1774 or infintheatre.com
Images: courtesy of Infinitheatre
Byron Toben is the immediate past-president of the Montreal Press Club
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