Torture Chambers: 'Closet Land'

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THE MOLOTOV THEATRE Group has seen the future, and it sure ain't pretty.

The offbeat troupe's current show, "Closet Land," posits an unknown government agency that is ready to torture and imprison any of its critics, including an author of children's books (Jessica Hansen).

Playwright Radha Bharadwaj's psychological drama is consistent with the Molotov Theatre Group's aesthetic, to emulate the French Theatre of Horror in contemporary scripts.

The unnamed writer's latest book tells the story of a little girl locked in the coat closet by her mother. As her time lengthens, the girl imagines the coats are her friends and, as children do, creates a magical world with them.

But the author's interrogator (Alex Zavistovich) is determined to extract a confession that the children's story is an allegory for an underground radical plot. He insists the story's characters, including a friendly rooster, are symbols for real revolutionaries.

In keeping with Molotov's mission to resurrect and contemporize the antique theatrical cult of Grand Guignol, the questioning evolves from almost compassionate to brutal through an increasingly disturbing interrogation session.

Even if the ficitional fiction's characters represent no more than what they are, the central figures in "Closet Land" clearly stand for two sides of an ideological debate, one about art, idealism and individuality versus authoritarian control and brutality. A pat argument, to be sure, but the story turns unexpectedly personal after the author's revelation near the end.

The play's unusual setting — the cramped room behind the bar at the Playbill Cafe — suits the surreal story, and the well-coordinated sound effects transform the nearly empty room into a nightmarish dungeon. When the lights go out, it's easy to believe you might be next up for questioning.

» Playbill Cafe, 1409 14th St. NW; through Dec. 13, $15-$18; (Dupont Circle)

Written by Express contributor Katie Litvin
Photo courtesy Molotov Theater Group