Miriam Fernandes and Derek Boyes. Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann.
Reviewed by James
Karas
Child prostitution, especially in developing countries, has reached such
levels that many countries have made it a criminal offence in the place of
origin of the offender. Stories about men going on “sex holidays” in the Far
East are common and prosecutions may be increasing but their effectiveness is
doubtful.
Playwright Erin Shields has tackled the subject from an angle all her
own in Soliciting Temptation which is playing at the Tarragon Theatre
Extra Space until May 4, 2014.
A Canadian on a business trip to an unnamed country has made
arrangements to meet a young girl in a cheap and sweltering hotel room. A shy,
pretty girl arrives, wrapped in a see-through sari and wearing only panties and
a top underneath. She says nothing and proceeds to unwind the sari from her
body in a sexually suggestive manner. The man takes the first steps towards
sexual contact and the girl explodes in his face like a hidden hand grenade.
She is no child prostitute but an intelligent, well-educated,
self-assured and articulate young woman (we never find out her age) who was
raised in Canada and has returned to her country of origin to fight child
prostitution.
The positions of power are reversed and the man becomes a blubbering
idiot begging for mercy. She shows none as she displays her own power. She
knows his phone numbers and can inform his wife and daughter; she knows his
employer; there are pimps protecting her and she can call the police.
The uneven battle stops when the girl is bitten by something and goes
into anaphylactic shock. The man saves her life with a shot of adrenalin but
the battle between them resumes. She goes on the offensive again and has him
take off his puts and shirt. She puts them on, leaving him in his underwear.
The man’s humiliation is complete.
The power struggle takes a turn when she admits that she is a virgin and
somehow that provides an opening for the man to take the upper hand for a
while.
The two actors, Derek Boyes as the man and Miriam Fernandes as the girl,
are on stage throughout the eighty minutes of the play and they have their work
cut out. They engage in highly emotional scenes, nasty arguments and some
lyrical exchanges. They never falter and give superb performances. Director
Andrea Donaldson does a fine job except for allowing both the man and the girl
to reach dramatic heights a bit too quickly.
I have problems with the play. The situation is a set up to get a man
who is by no means the worst sex tourist that one reads about. The plot is
reminiscent of David Mamet’s Oleana where a hapless professor is
set up in a power struggle by a student and is destroyed. I am not looking for
another play by Mamet but Soliciting
Temptation lacks inner coherence and convincing dramatic development. It
reaches a climax quickly when the man is brought to his knees begging for mercy
and the reversal of the girl’s behaviour is not convincing. There are times
when the play simply creaks.
Soliciting Temptation is a good example of bringing a current issue on the stage but the play
needs a few sessions with a talented dramaturge to be completely credible.
______
Soliciting
Temptation by Erin Shields
opened on April 9 and will run until May 4, 2014 at the Tarragon Theatre Extra
Space, 30 Bridgman Ave. Toronto, Ontario.
www.tarragontheatre.com
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