Binary Theatre Company's most recent play, “Mercy Rule” by junior film student Beth May, is a dark pleasure that should not be missed.
The play is about Claire Talley, who has moved back in with her fiancé after being released from a psych ward. Ben Waller, her fiancé, is a charming and committed neurosurgeon. As the two try to rekindle their relationship, Claire stumbles upon a box filled with the keepsakes of Ben’s dead patients. This leads her to believe that Ben is actually the cause of his patients’ death. This suspicion starts to ruin their relationship as Claire’s sanity goes downhill, fast.
“Mercy Rule” is a play that cuts deep as it expresses themes of depression, death and the fragile state of relationships. Sickness seems omnipresent in this production with the main character having a metal illness and another character with cancer. There are serious themes that make the story quite effective.
“Mercy Rule” follows the same lines as classic feminist literature, with an oppressive male figure and a woman being kept from the outside world, unable to be free. The key to this production is that the man doesn’t seem to be oppressive. He appears to be “Mr. Perfect,” which hides how maliciously he manipulates her.
Her medication is another force in her life that appears to be helping her, but actually keeps her from having a clear vision to what is happening around her. When she decides to stop taking her medication, she begins fighting back against the oppressive forces around her.
When Claire is brought back into the normal world, life begins running in a circle. There is a repeated normalcy with the lights turning on, the alarm clock and the phone messages, which all happen in a cycle. The play is full of these small details that help create an engaging experience.
This is all due to the director’s clear vision and impeccable execution of the material. The director, senior theater student Bethanne Abramovich, understood how to communicate Claire’s slow descent into the insanity with the help of clever lighting and sound design.
All the actors elevate the story with their brilliant performances. Sophomore theater student Lauren McKay plays Claire. McKay’s portrayal captures the isolation and the internal suffering the character is going through. Freshman theater student Jeremiah James plays Ben. He portrays the character as domineering yet suave, which makes it more difficult to figure out if his character did in fact murder his patients.
Freshman theater student Chelsea McCasland plays Vivian. Vivian is one of Dr. Waller’s cancer patients, but she has more relevance to the story than when she first appears. Without giving anything away, McCasland’s performance is one that needs to be seen.
Tickets can be purchased on Binary Theatre’s website.
Reach the reporter at tverti@asu.edu
