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For dystopian dramas to work they generally require a vaguely plausible premise, or at least a narrative that plays on fears we all share. This oddly-titled play from Jose Rivera – a prolific writer whose credits include the Oscar-nominated screenplay of 'The Motorcycle Diaries' – fails on both counts.
Imagine if you will a future America in which death is outlawed. Living amid this deathless society are a young couple, Lorenzo and Cassie. He is desperate to die, but his attempts - including downing a barrel of toxic waste - keep getting blocked by a sinister doctor. Seeing as the doc has his wandering eye on Cassie, when Lorenzo finally gets his way by petitioning the government to reinstate death, his spectre starts haunting them from the afterlife. With me? If not that’s understandable, because the plot soon descends into complete nonsense.
Rivera attempts to create what could charitably be dubbed a kind of futuristic take on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, but ends up with a meaningless mess. And it doesn’t help that it’s delivered in a simplistically directed production that’s performed in monochrome. The lovers - played by Aaron Anthony and Emma Drinkwater - lack any real chemistry, while Julian Protheroe is given little to work with as the implausibly creepy doctor.
It’s not all bad news. There are a few sharp lines, as one would hope from an Oscar nominee, and the energetic early exchanges do their best to spark the play into life, before being drowned by a deluge of bewildering plot twists and clunky exposition. It’s often said that good plays ask more questions than they answer. 'Human Emotional Process' – which is running as part of a season of new work from the Americas – could well be the exception that proves the rule.
BY: THEO BOSANQUET