Scenes From an Execution, Howard Barker's extraordinary analysis of inflammatory art within a conservative society, gets a sterling staging from QED Productions. The play is a daunting undertaking — more than two hours of discourse on art and its discontents — but Barker grounds his ideas in the characters, of whom QED's actors display a firm grasp.
The play follows Galactia (Elena McGhee), whose name rings out in the artistic community not only as a suitable moniker for a Spider-Man villain but also as a synonym for virtuosic painting. Her lover Carpeta (Mick O'Brien) is less technically proficient but has a following of his own — chiefly because his subject is and always will be Christ among the flocks.
Barker gets some mileage out of the relationship between Carpeta and Galactia; the less talented artist holds sway over his mistress by virtue of his distinct lack of virtue. Carpeta is one of those morally flabby people who can never bring himself to decide between his wife (we never meet her) and his mistress, and yet Galactia's desire for him turns their relationship into a kind of contest between her willpower and his indecision. Arousing force meets indifferent object, if you will.
It's in the politics of the play that Barker earns his keep; rather than write a straightforward criticism of fundamentalist oppression of the arts, Barker presents us with a complex problem. The Catholic Church commissions Galactia to paint a mural depicting Christian victory in a bloody war. She does so, making sure to present the violence as despicable. Church leaders are not too stupid to know that they've been insulted by a woman whose services they have bought at a fair price, and conflict ensues. The play's conclusions are appropriately oblique, and McGhee's performance successfully nuanced. Scenes From an Execution dissects the extremities of both censorship and free expression, and director Zander Teller grasps Barker's abstractions with a sureness that makes them compelling.
Presented by QED Productions
at the Hudson Guild Theatre, 441 W. 26th St., NYC.
May 25-Jun. 10; Wed.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.
(212)352-3101 or (866) 811-4111 or www.theatermania.com or www.qedproductions.org.