Scorched
Produced by Expats Theatre Director: Karin Rosnizeck
Assistant Director: Shana Laski
Set Designer: Simone Schneeberger
Lighting Designer: Ian Claar
Projection Designer: Hailey LaRoe
Costume Designer: Jeremy Pritchard
Movement/Fight/Intimacy: Natasha Mirny
Improvising Musician: Tina Chancey
Musical Advisors: Bari Biern and Scott Sedar
A disturbing, but at times touching play, play about two siblings trying to full fill their recently deceased mother’s last wishes. Through a series of time hops and unearthed memories, we glimps the past the siblings begin to discover on there journey. What they find will shock and disturb you as they discover who their previously unknown father was and learn more about their mother’s war-torn past in the process. While this is a very difficult story, it does touch on many universal messages about love, loss, searching for one self, and family.
Reviews
“Director Karin Rosnizeck has staged the play imagistically in a variety of styles, on a set draped like reminiscence in gauze (designed by Simone Schneeberg), with scenic video projections (designed by Hailey LaRoe) and melodious viola da gamba accompaniment (improvised by Tina Chancey). Wit and humor coexist unexpectedly with lyrical and trenchant poetry and the trauma of violence.”
“Ramsey Zeitouneh gives a standout performance as several men in Nawal’s life, including… in a prerecorded video clip, projected full-stage, Zeitouneh delivers a riveting monologue as a man shamelessly confessing his heinous war crimes… As video inserts in live theater go, this one is stunningly done.”
“In the play's many surprising shifts of tone, Scorched encompasses the horrors of war and hate alongside messages of love and reconciliation”
“Simon and Janine’s respective journeys are intertwined with scenes from Nawal’s life, often occupying the stage simultaneously. What could be confusing for many viewers instead evokes a lovely mosaic effect on stage, aided by a clever bit of set design wherein landscapes, photographs, and memories are projected on a gently pleated backdrop. Additionally, many of the scenes of Nawal’s past feature a long sheet of winding fabric held by the actors on stage.”
“We first glimpse Nawal and Wahab (Ramsey Zeitouneh in one of his four roles) amid the white trees, rocks, and sunlight of Hailey LaRoe’s lovely projections. Their joy is short-lived.”
“The character names, costumes, and improvised musical accompaniment suggest the Middle East but the lack of specificity elevates the story from a series of historical data points to a universal saga of misunderstanding and hatred of the other.”