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Sexualized Power Struggles and Passionate Rhetoric

David Mamet’s Oleanna, directed by Sarah Farrant, adds dimension and drama to London’s local theatre scene. Illustrating the highly sexualized struggle for power and control between a professor and a young student, the play is powered by language.

With its fair share of shouting, muttering and interrupted sentences, the two-person cast wades through lofty topics such as entitlement to higher education, philosophical ideals and gendered power dynamics. The subject matter clearly resonated with an audience that was composed primarily of students. The intimacy of the small stage made for palpable discomfort among the audience during tense moments. The set is minimal–a desk with two chairs arranged on a Persian rug and a large painted chalkboard sprawling across the back wall.

Andrew Pel, cast in the role of the professor, is also a founding member of Richmond and Tower, the play’s production company. Founded in 2010, Richmond and Tower was started by four Western graduates hoping to augment the local theatre scene in London. Pel portrays the young, up-and-coming professor with competence, managing to convey a convincing degree of pompous terseness. Dressed in a brown corduroy blazer and a red sweater vest, Pel is domineering and arrogant but still manages to deliver the professor’s lengthy monologues with a degree of naturalness.

Carol, the idealistic and determined young student, is played by Michela Collins. Less static than Pel, she is volatile and rife with emotion that ranges from self-conscious whispers to hysterical shrieks. Her keenly felt sentiment is discomforting at moments, especially in such close quarters. It is difficult to sympathize with Carol as the play progresses—her fundamentalist devotion to philosophical rhetoric and educational ideals is alarming at times and alienating for the audience.  Moving from a nervous student consumed by self-doubt to a domineering and manipulative virago is a transition that takes considerable skill. Though Collins seems undoubtedly more comfortable when ranting and pacing, she tackles the entirety of her complex role without fear.

In the disturbing final act, the audience is uniformly outraged. Conveniently located in the heart of downtown, The Arts Project’s compact stage makes for an intimate show that still manages to feel sophisticated. Though verbose at times, Collins and Pel manage to immerse the audience in their world of gendered power dynamics and self-righteous idealism while still holding their interest. Oleanna succeeds as an artistic and interesting contribution to London’s arts scene.

See Oleanna at The Arts Project, located at 203 Dundas St. Tickets are $20 at Infosource or at the door. The show runs tonight until Sunday. Showtime is 8 p.m.

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