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Hard Bargain takes it to the extreme with ‘Extremities’

Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005

Click here to enlarge this photo Christopher Anderson⁄The Gazette Marjorie, played by Katherine Prout, is attacked in her home by a rapist played by Brian Donohue, but the tables are soon turned in a Hard Bargain Players production of ‘‘Extremities,” which runs through Oct. 8.

The play explores whether the term ‘‘heroine” more accurately describes Marjorie (played by Katherine Prout of Calvert County), who uses everyday items such as bug spray and bleach to overpower a man twice her size. Based on a true story that Mastrosimone heard from a rape survivor, ‘‘Extremities” tells of a woman who takes justice into her own hands, in her own home and on her own terms.

The play’s director, Janet Zavistovich of Fort Washington, said that one of the reasons she chose Prout, a petite and delicate-boned woman, was because of her size.

‘‘I wanted to let people know that anyone can do this,” said Zavistovich. ‘‘You don’t have to be the victim. If you’re attacked, look around, use what’s in your house.”

The action begins when Raul, played by Brian Donohue of White Plains, walks into Marjorie’s home and tries to rape her. After she thwarts his attempt, Marjorie decides that calling the police would not guarantee that Raul would not attack again. So she ties him up and locks him in the fireplace. There he sits, his eyes bleeding from bug spray and covered in bleach and gasoline as Marjorie threatens to light him up like a bonfire.

What unfolds is almost like a chapter from Job in the Bible. Marjorie’s roommates, Terry (played by Diana Fox of Fort Washington) and Patricia (played by Brooke Howells of LaPlata), come home to find a man in the fireplace. However, their sympathy for Marjorie is quickly replaced by judgment and misplaced blame.

If you go What: William Mastrosimone’s ‘‘Extremities” Where: The Amphitheatre at Hard Bargain Farm, 2001 Bryan Point Road, Accokeek When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 8 Cost: $12, $10 for students, seniors and Alice Ferguson Foundation members For more information: Call 301-392-9901, e-mail reservations@hbplayers.org or visit www.hbplayers.org

Sadly, what Marjorie hoped to escape—a trial by jury, people’s judgmental stares and accusations—actually takes place in her own home before a jury of peers, and Marjorie soon finds she may have been better off facing a jury of strangers.

‘‘I think a lot of people still blame the victim,” said Donohue, who hopes that this play will raise awareness and foster more understanding for victims of sexual assault.

But the question remains: Does Marjorie really have to go that far? ‘‘Extremities” forces you to face this question, and the difficult issue of rape, with almost the same force as an assault. But, like many of the performers, your answer might surprise you.

‘‘Yeah, I do think that Marjorie did the right thing,” said Prout, who realizes that her response is not politically correct.

Howells admitted that she too would go to extremes if faced with Marjorie’s circumstances.

‘‘I would probably be a little more like Marjorie,” she said.

Indeed, many women may watch ‘‘Extremities” and hope that they would react in some ways like Marjorie if they were in a similar situation.

Not surprisingly, Prout said that working on a play like this is physically and emotionally taxing.

‘‘When you’re working on a show like this, you have to work that much harder to try and leave it on the stage,” said the actress, who admits to checking the locks on her door more than usual after starting the play.

While leaving this subject on stage is difficult for the actors, hopefully the audience won’t leave without a new level of awareness and understanding about this disturbing issue.

This play is not suitable for young audiences due to strong language, sexual and graphic scenes, and violence.