Women focus aggressions toward Y chromosomes

By Ricardo Baca
The Metropolitan

Imagine having to go to the bathroom really, really bad and finally finding a toilet. Or having scaly, chapped lips and eventually layering the lip balm on thick. Thatâs the kind of breath of fresh air youâll find in the LIDA Projectâs latest production, Daughters of Lot.

Lot isnât upbeat, but it is different and on the cutting edge.

Lot, written by LIDA resident playwright Brian E. Lewis, takes place in a city full of petty tyrants, shallow warlords and rape gangs. Three women have imprisoned a man, Joshua, and want him to confess his guilt in actions of love and crime.

They are ultimately trying to get him to admit to his sisterâs murder and wonât rest till he mutters a confession.

Nils Ivan Swanson plays Joshua. His character is a tormented and tortured creature, continually beaten, raped and consoled by his female wardens.

When the women are together in his cell, they are all menacingly similar. It is when they are alone with Joshua that their distinct personas emerge.

Catherine Worster plays the violent Martha. Full of hatred and boiling gristle, she beats her prisoner with a whip and other devices, spitting out venomous curses upon Joshuaâs scabbed and injured body.

Sara Casperson plays Ruth, a sultry dominatrix who often comforts her prisoner with kisses or sexual innuendo. Tara M.E. Thompsonâs Mary is Joshuaâs mother hen, listening to his philosophical ramblings.

Daughters of Lot is unusual because it includes background music. Paul Cureâs score, written specifically for the play, resembles the music on Nine Inch Nailsâ EP Broken.

The simple chords, played mostly on acoustic guitars, fit the eerie mood of the play perfectly. As the situational stakes are heightened on stage, the music follows, growing to a larger, industrial scale. The playâs melancholic and proselike dialogue is a success. But like a lot of experimental theater, it becomes hard to comprehend as the evening wears on. The cast performs the deep soliloquies beautifully, but they are performed in an order that is hard to follow.

The play deals with mature themes and is very complex at times ÷ but remains a rewarding piece of work for those willing to give it a chance.

Because the entire show takes place in Joshuaâs cell, the set is simple. There are bendable bars in the rear of the stage, allowing easy entrance and exit for the women but still preventing the weak Joshua from escaping.

The LIDA Project and director Brian Freeland have combined to craft a beautiful and compelling play. For this, they deserve cheers.

Daughters of Lot plays at the LIDA Project Experimental Theatre, 50 S. Cherokee St., through October 5. Call 293-9193 for information.