Zona de Guerra em Chicago

Must see at-sea: From Brazil, a Eugene O'Neill one-act
January 15, 11:14 PM ·


Companhia Triptal in a scene from Zona de Guerra
It’s only running through Sunday – which is all the more reason to brave the elements and hightail it to the Goodman Theatre for the Brazilian Companhia Triptal’s utterly spellbinding production of Eugene O’Neill’s Zona de Guerra (“In the Zone.”) An early one-act that’s rarely-unto-never produced, the piece puts the audience deep in the claustrophobic belly of a rusting ship.
Here, in a hellish artificial twilight, a paranoid group of seaman band together in fear to destroy one of their own.Part “Lord of the Flies”, part “Dante’s Inferno” and wholly enthralling for its breathless, 60-minute run time, “Zona de Guerra” is performed in Portuguese with supertitles. Don’t let that intimidate you. Directed by Andre Garolli, it is a drama of electrifying intensity – the language only adds a layer to its inherent mystery.
The all-male ensemble remains silent for the first mesmerizing scene. In murky shadows and dim lantern light, they enact a gruesome, balletic pantomime that slams home the suffocatingly close quarters of a crew living cheek-to-jowl just above the bilge. They’re a filthy, ragged, ugly- group, swarming together like rats, fighting like dogs and eyeing each other not with profound suspicion and malevolence.
But in the taut silence of this grim ship, they also create a kind of terrible beauty. It’s the human form stripped down to its most primal level: What we’re seeing is almost pure emotion undiluted by reason. In that harsh purity, there’s something brutal and lovely.
Fits and starts of dialogue let us know that working on this ship is one long game of Russian Roulette. We’re adrift in a war zone, enemy mines are everywhere; every unexplained ‘clank’ could be the harbinger of instant death to all. Raw nerves are strung unbearably tight. And one of the sailors is acting, the rest decide, in a highly suspicious manner.
What happens to the odd man out – and what is eventually discovered about him - is shattering. It also points to themes O’Neill eventually explored in his later masterpieces, ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night” and “Desire Under the Elms.”Devastating alcoholism, unbearable loneliness, and the propensity of men to destroy each other rather than connect – they’re all here, illustrated in excruciating detail.
Director Garolli emphasizes non-verbal means of communicating the characters and story to the audience, and he does so with stunning impact. O’Neill’s words are important, of course, but through the sheer spectacle of human physicality, those words are heightened immeasurably.
Companhia Triptal will stage all three of O’Neill’s one-act “Sea Plays” – all based on the playwright’s experience in the merchant marine during World War I - before leaving town at the end of the month. We plan on catching all of them.

Zona de Guerra continues through Jan. 18 at the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn, Chicago. . “Longa Viagem de Volta pra Caso (The Long Voyage Home) runs Jan. 21-25; Cardiff (East Bound for Cardiff) runs Jan. 28 – 31.
For more information, go to www.goodmantheatre.org or call 312/443-3800.

Catey Sullivan
EXAMINER - Chicago