The revolutionary flag of Romania — with the Communist emblem cut from its centre — was unfurled during a moving moment in Red Deer College’s production of Mad Forest.
The symbolism of a flag with a missing centre gradually becomes apparent in this chilling and powerful play by British playwright Caryl Churchill, which opened Thursday in Studio A of the RDC Arts Centre.
The thoughtful script — written after interviews with actual Romanians just months after the revolution — focuses on two families who have been hollowed out by years of oppression under Nicolae Ceaucescu’s dictatorial Communist regime.
The Vladu clan can’t have a discussion within their own home without turning up the radio, in case spies are planning to inform on them to the Securitate (Romania’s secret police).
It turns out Lucia Vladu’s parents are in upheaval because she’s bent on marrying an American — thereby jeopardizing the whole family’s standing in the Socialist Republic.
Not only are Lucia’s mother and father about to be demoted from their jobs, but her sister Florina has become a persona non grata in the eyes of her boyfriend’s social-climbing family, the Antonescus, who don’t want to risk their status by associating with undesirables.
Certainly this is love in a dangerous time. But two weddings eventually take place — the first during the Communist era, and the second after Ceaucescu’s government is overthrown and he’s executed along with his wife on Dec. 25, 1989.
By the time of the second nuptials, the cold reality of having to rebuild the country from the ground up begins to dawn on a populace that’s still paranoid and distrustful of neighbours and politicians — and now more susceptible to the destructive forces of nationalism, including prejudice against minorities and conspiracies.
It’s clear the hole in Romanian society won’t heal overnight.
The talented second-year theatre students, under the direction of Thomas Usher, do a tremendous job of bringing to life a tumultuous period of history that many of us will remember from the TV news. The uniformly strong ensemble is made up of Michael Bentley, Maggie Chisholm, Veronika Fodor, Vanessa McCagg, Theo Grandjambe, Taylor Osiowy, Thomas Zima, Tanner Chubb, Stuart Old, Ryan Garbutt, Sara Fowlow, Jelena Minshall, Ronnie McLean, Michael Richards, and Kira Kirkland.
This isn’t an easy vehicle for the young actors. But they dive headlong into the creation of multiple characters — including a metaphoric vampire, archangel and dog. They manage to deliver some lines in Romanian, and pull off convincing East European accents and attitudes — particularly in a scene involving a tedious wait in a food queue.
The memorable revolutionary scene is shiver-inducingly visceral as the actors recreate the crippling fear, disbelief and heady excitement of a week in which the unthinkable finally happens. The scripted descriptions of Dec. 21-25, 1989, were transcribed from actual Romanians who lived through the revolution.
More than 26 years after Churchill was commissioned by London’s Central School of Speech and Drama to travel to Romania with 10 students to research the play, Mad Forest remains relevant, especially given this summer’s near coup in Turkey. Not all the messages are easily digested, but the sometimes surreal script says a lot about human nature and packs a hard punch. While the second act is slower moving than the first, it should clear up questions the audience may be left grappling with at intermission.
At its conclusion, Mad Forest feels open ended, but then the question of what comes after the fall of the Iron Curtain is still being asked today.
Everything about this play — from its graffiti-scrawled cement set to the oddly unfashionable East European costumes — rings true, presenting a fascinating glimpse of recent history.
It runs to Oct. 22.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com