Faceless
by Selina Fillinger
Directed by BJ Jones
Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Studio
January 12, 2018
Michael James Reed, Susaan Jamshidi, Lindsay Stock, Ross Lehman
Photo by Jerry Naunheim, Jr.
Joe Dempsey, Lindsay Stock
Photo by Jerry Naunheim, Jr.
Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
The latest Studio production at the Rep, Faceless, couldn’t be more timely if it tried. It’s one of those stories that’s so plausible, it may as well be based on reality, even though it’s a fictional tale. Tackling many issues that are at the forefront of the modern political and social conversation, this play is challenging, affecting, and impeccably cast.
Delving into the worlds of religion, politics, the war on terror, and social media, this story follows the trial of a Chicago teenager, Susie Glenn (Lindsay Stock), who was arrested for conspiring with terrorists after attempting to travel overseas to join an ISIS-involved soldier with whom she has only interacted online, even though she intends to marry him and has converted to Islam under his influence. The story starts with lead prosecutor Scott Bader (Michael James Reed) recruiting Harvard-educated attorney Claire Fathi (Susaan Jamshidi), the American-born Muslim daughter of French and Iranian immigrants, to assist him on the case. It’s a high profile case, and Claire knows exactly why the politically aspirational Scott wants her there, and after some resistance she agrees to join the team. Defending Susie is Mark Arenberg (Ross Lehman), with an excellent reputation who is brought in by her widowed father Alan (Joe Dempsey). The structure is semi-linear, in that the story generally moves forward, but there are also frequent flashback sequences showing how Susie, whose police officer mother was killed in the line of duty about a year previously, came to be involved with “Reza” online, showing texts and tweets projected on a screen, as “Reza” remains shrouded in mystery–a shadowy figure whose face we never see, and whose voice is given a ghostly echoing quality. The story explores the development of the case from various sides, the preparation of the legal teams as well as the personal stories of Susie and Claire, gradually narrowing focus to the developing relationship between these two characters, as Claire learns about Susie through the case, initially dismissing her as “Muslim Barbie”. As the trial continues, Clarie is forced to look more closely at Susie, and what has brought her to this point, as well as confronting issues in her own personal life and family relationships. The play covers many issues in addition to the main idea, from exploration of some aspects of online culture, to teenage alienation, to press sensationalism, to religious differences between the two Muslim characters, Mark who is Jewish, Alan who is an atheist, and Scott whose background is left more nebulous but who isn’t above using Claire’s religious background as an angle to get publicity for the case. There’s also an insightful exploraton of grief and father-daughter relationships. There are a lot of issues here, from the obvious to the less apparent, and the nuanced script is incisive, thought-provoking, and challenging. Many questions are raised, but not all of them are answered, and that lends an extra air of authenticity to the production.
The characters here are complex and richly drawn, and extremely well-cast. Everyone is excellent, with the focus being largely on Jamshidi’s confident, vulnerable portrayal of Claire and Stock’s alternately defiant, grieving, lonely, and impressionable Susie. There are also strong moments for Dempsey as Susie’s also grieving father, the always strong Reed as the somewhat cocky Scott, and Lehman as the thorough, thoughtful Mark. The trial preparations and the courtroom scenes themselves can be riveting and dramatic, but there are also some quietly chilling moments as Susie’s backstory plays out. The excellent set by John Culbert, the evocative lighting by Heather Gilbert and sound by Andre Pluess, and the superb projections designed by Stephan Mazurek, showing Susie’s texts and tweets and texts to her shadowy “fiance”, add to the chilling drama. This is a show in which the technical aspects augment the performances in a critical way to help convey the overall feeling of the story.
The play is supsenseful, timely, smartly paced and impressively staged by director BJ Jones and the cast. This isn’t a very long play, but a lot goes on in its approximately 90 minute running time. It’s not a true story, but the way it’s portrayed here, it’s easy to see how this could happen. There’s a lot to think about here in terms of politics, religion, family relationships, and more. It may be called Faceless, but a major part of this play’s effectiveness is the fact that it gives these issues a face. It personalizes issues that can easily be thought of in the abstract. Here, the drama is real, it’s intense, and it’s well worth seeing.
Joe Dempsey, Lindsay Stock
Photo by Jerry Naunheim, Jr.
Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
Leave a Reply