A Red Orchid Theatre’s world premiere of Hanna Kime’s “The Targeted” on the Chopin Theatre Mainstage takes a provocative look at a problematic subculture, but the playwright merely has a handful of troubled characters interact in various situations rather than providing a well-developed plot leading to a satisfying conclusion.
Under Grace Dolezal-Ng’s straightforward, sturdy direction, the pace of the 90-minute play occasionally lags, but the ensemble members have plenty of chances to shine, arguably pulling our attention in too many directions at once.
The premise is that we’re attending “The Solidarity and Truth Summit,” a gathering of self-identified Targeted Individuals, or T.I.s, at a sleepover camp they’ve rented for the weekend. Paranoid and plagued by mysterious maladies, they see themselves as misunderstood, persecuted and the victims of a vast and covert conspiracy of surveillance, harassment and torture by global governmental powers, aliens and others who are out to get them.
The purpose of the summit is to make people aware of the T.I.s’ plight and to discuss strategies to bring down the deep state. The leader is Jeff (Lawrence Grimm), who tells attendees at the opening session — seated on a bench in the front row, making the audience part of the group — that he has a Ph.D. in biochemistry and worked for Purdue Pharma. He also assures them they are not alone, citing the 37 people attending this retreat as part of an estimated 170,000 in the U.S. and one million worldwide.
But Jeff is increasingly distressed by an incident that’s interfering with his ability to lead. Nathan, one of the T.I.s under his influence, killed a nurse in the psych ward where he was being held and then committed suicide. Jeff claims his torturers drove him to it, but can’t help feeling responsible.
The attendees we meet range from relatively harmless, if delusional, to most likely to be a danger to themselves and others. The outspoken Rhonda (Kirsten Fitzgerald), who has written a book about T.I.s, is very suspicious of outsiders and believes they should be excluded, though she takes newbie Sherry (Sadieh Rifai), who has had unexplained pain since she got a flu shot, under her wing, urging her to leave her husband and children. Rhonda also maintains a surgical kit and gleefully volunteers to remove implants from under the skin of others.
One of them is Eric (Glenn Obrero), who’s convinced bugs under his skin are causing him to itch all over. He also sleeps under a tinfoil blanket and lines his hat with it. Sharing a cabin with Eric, who has asked her to come, is his sister Mia (Stephanie Shum), a medical student who is trying to understand her brother and has been taking care of him since their mother gave up.
The fact that Mia is a “normie” angers Rhonda and also creates some friction between Rhonda and the other stalwart Didi (Natalie West), who is kinder and more tolerant. Didi also makes and sells what she says are lead-lined raincoats and hats to help thwart electromagnetic attacks, lives in people’s storage lockers, and has a near breakdown when conflict threatens.
Most of the play consists of more-or-less heated conversations and arguments, mainly between two or three characters at a time. Alliances form, break up and re-form, but relatively little really happens. There’s arguably too much repetition, and some of the discussion — like the rapprochement between Jeff and Mia near the end — seems highly implausible.
Lauren M. Nichols’ scenic design features a lived-in cabin common room flanked by two small bedrooms with bunk beds. Outside is a signpost with arrows pointing to the camp’s various amenities. My favorite detail, though, is that the backs of the stacking chairs are stamped “Property of Serene Pines.” Nothing about “The Targeted” is serene.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.hpherald.com ’
