Palace of the End-Where Truth Gets Killed
Palace of the End, a production from Waterworks Company, directed by Rob Langford; went on stage from 14th-24th March at Espace 4001. Palace of the End is based on three monologue plays ‘My Pyramid’, ‘Harrowdown Hill’ and ‘Instruments of Yearning’ by Judith Thompson. With harsh war background as the driving force; this play brings along three individual yet strongly connected real events. The plot essentially deals with invasion of Iraq, witnessed by three people from three different circumstances.
The first one, ‘My Pyramid’ is inspired by the media circus around Lynndie England; an American soldier (played by Sarah Marchand) who was convicted for the brutal sexual torture of Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib prison; ‘Harrowdown Hill’ portrays the solitary death of British Microbiologist Dr.David Kelly (Michael Findlay) and the last one ‘Instruments of Yearning’; probably the best of the three; comes up from the true story of Nehrjas Al Saffarh ( Alexandra Valassis), a well known communist party member of Iraq who was tortured by Saddam Hussein’s secret police in 1970s.
While all three actors are absolutely luminous in their respective roles; a special mention goes to Alexandra Valassis. A chill runs down the spine and makes one shiver as you watch Alexandra bringing Nehrjas alive.
A worth watch!
by Indrani Bhattacharyya, Bharat Times Journal, March 2013, p.8
