Sowelu Theater
Portland, OR
503.730.9066
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| Afsaneh Boutorabi |
Reviews: The Fever by Wallace Shawn, 2005
Willamette Week says: "The Fever rambles, rages — and resonates."
"In Wallace Shawn's play The Fever, a nameless privileged American — in this case, a woman traveler played by Los Angeles actress Afsaneh Boutorabi — finds herself collapsing in a hotel room in a strange country where she doesn't know the language.
Feverishly, she takes apart and tries to put together a wreching debate on morality and poverty. Her argument doubles back on itself time and again. How do we live affluently in a world where others live in dire poverty? How do we justify deserving what we have when others have so little? If conscience is a disease, this traveler is suddenly fighting for her life in a morass of heightened moral awareness.
Inspired by a trip he took to a Latin America and originally performed by Shawn in 1991 at New Yorks Public Theatre, The Fever is self-indulgent theatrically: It rambles and rages a bit too long, offering little visual stimulation within its talking-head format.
But it also resonates in today's political climate: It's uncompromising and completely thought-provoking.
When all the issues turn to ash, the questions keep burning with a steady flame. Iranian-born Boutorabi, who will also perform the piece in Seattle, offers a simple yet compeling performance. She is directed by Rod Menzies.
Presented by Sowelu Ensemble and Creative Enterprise, the hour and 40 minute solo piece is part of Sowelu's fall season of dance, music and drama."
—Holly Johnson