PicksInSix Review: HOW TO DEFEND YOURSELF Victory Gardens Theater
“PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. EXCUSES MAKE MISTAKES.”
Liliana Padilla’s new revelatory play “How to Defend Yourself” is a potent and important work that champions self-awareness and deals head-on with the devastating impact and aftermath of sexual assault, buttoned up in some of the most honest and refreshingly profound dialogue you will hear anywhere on stage in Chicago.
Directed with an edgy brand of velocity we have come to expect from Marti Lyons with a superb cast, Padilla’s story of seven college students coping with their own sexual and gender identities reveals situations that could have occurred on any college campus in the last few decades. The difference here is that Padilla’s characters communicate at a faster pace, with more grit and determination, and, in spite of the central topic, with an abundance of humor in language that is fresh, familiar and provocative. The result is a game-changer on the path of understanding the complicated issues of behavioral development, peer influence, consent and the blurry generational line that defines acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
As the story begins, Susannah is in the hospital, the victim of sexual violence on campus. Mojdeh (Ariana Mahallati) and Diana (Isa Arciniegas), potential pledges to Susannah’s sorority, are part of a group of students beginning to gather in the gym for a self-defense class. By the time Brandi (Anna Crivelli), who is the instructor, and her sorority sister Kara (Netta Walker) show up, the pledges have already shared some spirited moments, exposing their innermost feelings to each other. And just as Brandi, a black belt, gets things started, Nikki (Andrea San Miguel), who is suffering from low self-esteem, joins the group. Exhilarating exercises and the basics—having a weapon and using your voice—follow. When the fraternity brothers, Andy (Ryan McBride) and Eggo (Jayson Lee), show for the next session–the Assault Prevention Workshop—there is a seismic, and hilarious, shift in dynamics of the group with lots of mansplaining.
Things turn quickly, and there is more to be learned about the assault, including a series of disclosures that result in a layering of guilt as well as the effects of trauma playing out in surprising and profound ways. Padilla allows that evidence to pour out of every character with extraordinary empathy, power and emotion, particularly in those whose outward strength appears to be unwavering.
The production, developed as part of the Victory Gardens 2018 IGNITION Festival of New Plays, is co-produced in its world premiere by Victory Gardens with Actors Theatre of Louisville and comes in at a taut 90 minutes. Yu Shibagaki’s scenic design—a realistic gym that appears to be a metaphor stuck in time—provides a highly functional backdrop for the classes, basketball games and additional scenes, which also benefit from Paul Toben’s expressive lighting design and the robust urban sound design of Thomas Dixon.
In the end, we are left with, and challenged by, the enormous responsibility to aspire, as Mahallati’s character offers, to become “the best version” of ourselves. That plan includes sharpening our instincts, watching out for each other—from an early age and even when it might not be warranted—and developing skill sets that allow for a balance of power in every relationship along the way. “Practice makes perfect,” Brandi advises. “Excuses make mistakes.” So, when best efforts fail, accept the reality that when people show us who they are, believe them, and be prepared to react instinctively—physically and emotionally—to preserve the essence of our own identity, defend ourselves and survive.
Recommended for audiences 16 and up for strong language, some violence and explicit discussion of sex and sexual assault.
PHOTOS|Liz Lauren
VICTORY GARDENS THEATER &
ACTORS THEATRE OF LOUISVILLE
present
HOW TO DEFEND YOURSELF
World Premiere
through February 23, 2020
Victory Gardens
24333 N. Lincoln Avenue
Chicago
(773) 871-3000
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