“There is no Power for the Electric Chair” reviewed by Jacob Davis

Recommended ***  The Trap Door Theatre has long been a valuable part of the Chicagoland theatre ecosystem as one of the most prominent purveyors of Eastern European staging devices. This season, they’ve launched a special series called “Trap Open,” which is dedicated to giving more artists an opportunity to explore forms that are uncommon on American stages and create a radically different experience than naturalism. Currently running on the company’s off-nights is the English-language premiere of the new Bulgarian drama There is No Power for the Electric Chair. Written by the poet, novelist, and dramatist Alexander Sekulov and translated by Holly Karapetkova, it’s a brief two-hander think-piece presented through a dialogue between convict and executioner who are suddenly isolated.

The image of the convict strapped into the electric chair at the beginning of the play is a particularly disquieting one. We are left to contemplate him in silence for several minutes after entering the theatre. The show begins with a terrible ruckus, and the executioner, Leonard (Christopher Donaldson), shouts that there has been an earthquake of unknown proportion. He tells the convict (Logan Hulick) that the destruction of the entire rest of humanity is a real possibility, although we never know if or why this is. At any rate, the room is running on emergency power, nobody else can enter, and it is unclear how long the present situation will last.

The convict naturally wants to know whether that means he gets a reprieve. The executioner does not think so, but is clearly uncertain and playing for time. Hulick’s convict is a cruel and erudite manipulator who mostly seems amused by the execution’s reactions, until he gets exasperated with Leonard’s bullheadedness. Donaldson, true to the convict’s description of the man, plays the executioner as a blue-collar procedure-oriented schlub who is utterly befuddled by this break-down in the system, and possibly every system, but refuses to give up his principles. Being unrestrained, he’s the one who can make meaningful decisions, and his emotions are likewise unrestrained as a result. Director Zlatomir Moldovanski guides the two through a twisting series of confrontations that focus more on mundane matters aspects of death and criminality than on grand declarations about the meaning of justice. (The convict would be willing to have that conversation, but is frustrated by the executioner’s indifference to philosophy and lack of imagination.)

Sekulov doesn’t seem interested in a literally accurate depiction of capital punishment. And it doesn’t make sense for a person being electrocuted to be hooded. But since the play begins with what may be the destruction of the entire rest of the world, accuracy clearly isn’t the point. This is a theatrical form which is meant to be open-ended, in which the audience is invited to disagree with the characters’ choices. The executioner never considers trying to co-exist with the convict, and given what we learn about his crime, that’s understandable, but is it reasonable given the circumstances? Would that line of reasoning apply in more plausible circumstances when people have to decide whom to co-exist with? Or is that exactly why legalistic protocol is so important? The interactions between the two talented actors are certainly enough to hold the audience’s rapt attention for fifty minutes, and the premise is hard to avoid engaging with. For a very low price, patrons get to mull over an odd puzzle while enabling artists to continue experimenting with forms that are distinctly theatrical.

There is No Power for the Electric Chair runs through November 5 at Trap Door Theater, 1655 W Cortland, Chicago. Parking is available in the neighborhood.

Running time is fifty minutes.

Performances are

Sundays:              8:00 pm

Mondays:            8:00 pm

Tickets are $10.

To order, call 773-384-0494 or visit Trap Door Theatre.

To see what others are saying, go to Theater in Chicago, go to Review Round-Up and click at “There is No Power for the Electric Chair”.