Body of Work

SING A SONG OF 'VIOLENCE'
(excerpt)
Barbara M. Bannon, The Event Newsweekly, May 19, 2000

"A Violent Attraction" studies the phenomenon of violence in our society. Local playwright Sally Kenyon and director Theresa Carson look at incidents ranging from mass torture by military dictators to date rape; from lynchings of blacks in the South to spouse and child abuse; from "America's love affair with guns" to gay bashing; from apartheid to the mass suicides of doomsday cults.

The show emerged from two months of discussions and improvisations that were then shaped, unified, and staged...into a pointed and often powerful dramatic piece.  But..."A Violent Attraction" comes up short. There's no attempt to analyze why these particular people in this specific situation choose to behave the way they do....in spite of the proficiency of the performers and the variety of song, pantomime, and dramatic scene that clothes the material..."A Violent Attraction" starts to seem all the same: a litany of violent incidents marching along in an unrelenting line.