The night the venerable Titanic sunk in the icy waters of the northern Atlantic, 705 survivors were loaded into lifeboats and eventually led to safety. In Playcrafters’ production of Scotland Road, one of those survivors apparently misses the boat, yet she still manages to survive. That’s the premise for the intriguing 90-minute (intermission free) psychological thriller where the Titanic metaphor harbors center stage and the audience becomes judge and jury over the perplexingly enigmatic question that desperately needs answering…Who is this woman?
In this taut psychological thriller by playwright Jeffrey Hatcher (“The Turn of The Screw,” “Vandals,” “Downtown” and most recently “Mr. Holmes,” starring Ian McKellan), the engaging plot involves a glimpse into the mind of a mysterious man named John (Bill Braak), who is intrigued to the point of obsession with the nebulous details surrounding a woman (Laura Watson-Shoeman) dressed in Victorian-era garb found adrift on a floating iceberg in the northern part of the Atlantic ocean. The woman claims to have been on the Titanic. Joining him in the woman’s interrogation is Dr. Halbrech (Laura Shapella), and later another witness-Titanic survivor, Miss Kittle (Gina Reed), is brought in to help debunk the woman’s outrageous claim. The only initial clues the woman lends to prove her authenticity are the words, “Titanic” and “Scotland Road.” (Of course, voyagers who are familiar with passenger liners at the turn of the 20th century know that the passageway connecting the ship’s first class and third class was commonly referred to as the “Scotland Road”).
“We’re set in a kind of limbo – a space that is at once anywhere and nowhere,” said Director Deb Braak of the show produced by Courtney Katz. “Where we are and why we’re there is revealed in bits and pieces throughout the play.”
One of Braak’s interpretations of the play’s milieu is to imagine the collaboration of James Cameron and Rod Serling.
“It’s a play about identity…about how we see ourselves,” she said. “Hatcher has this way of pulling out the wry humor that underpins the story, while still creating exquisite suspense that is really tantalizing. Who is The Woman? It’s an edge-of-your-seat kind of story, and the characters are well drawn, each with his or her own sense of mystery,” she added.
There is an element of nudity in the show; however, it doesn’t involve any of the four actors. The stage is stripped down and all-but-naked with merely a deck chair featured center stage. That is, until the special effects kick in. Scenery aside, the monochromatically lit stage serves well in underscoring the suspense, ala The Twilight Zone.
Secrets are uncovered, identities are revealed and the audience will be kept guessing right up to the end. The only believable explanation is…well, you be the judge.
If you go:Playcrafters of Skippack presents
Scotland Roadat the Barn2011 Store Road @ Rt. 73
Skippack, PA 19474September 17-29, 25-26; Oct. 1-3 at 8 p.m., Sept. 27 – 3 p.m.
Tickets: $17.00Info: 610-584-4005
www.playcrafters.org
