Review: The Treatment

Moxie was at opening night of The Treatment, Eve Ensler's buzzed-about exploration of... um... what IS it about, anyway? Let's see.

The Treatment begins with a stiff-as-a-board military psychiatrist interviewing (interrogating?) a traumatized soldier. As the source of his trauma is revealed, the relationship between treater and treatee becomes less and less clear. At one point, the soldier falls asleep in the arms of the doctor. At another point, the two share a passionate kiss. The connection between the pair is obviously not about a chemistry with each other, but about the needs, feelings, and humanity that each has been denying themselves, and the resulting desparation for closeness. However, the reasons behind said denials are left frustratingly unexplored. The resulting play lacks a real relationship where the two are invested in each other, and also fails to deliver fully realized characters.

Director Leigh Silverman has certainly crafted an intense experience, with glaring lights and grating sound effects during the changes that heighten the tension. As we get closer to an answer about what exact atrocities the soldier committed in the prisons of the middle east, the tension builds, but there's no real catharsis, and so nothing is learned. The Treatment ends up knee-deep in the oldest trap of political theater, feeling like schooling and punishment rather than a new, fresh look where the audience feels they've explored and learned something important.

Both Portia and Dylan McDermott do as much as they can to clear the muddy waters of the play, but there's only so much they can do. Portia's final moments are intensely powerful, but still leaves you wondering what the message really is here, and what the playwright really wants to say. Aside from "torture is bad and american politics are abysmal," I'm not really sure.

The Treatment marks the beginning of The Culture Project's Impact Festival, devoted to political work. Here's hoping that the other offerings have more focus than this one.

Photo: Bruce Glikas, broadwayworld.com