{"id":1563,"date":"2012-05-22T11:18:50","date_gmt":"2012-05-22T18:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libernetics.com\/?p=1563"},"modified":"2012-05-22T14:18:49","modified_gmt":"2012-05-22T21:18:49","slug":"bob-and-ros-production-of-ralph-tropfs-the-shadow-hour-notes-and-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libernetics.com\/?p=1563","title":{"rendered":"Bob and Ro’s production of Ralph Tropf’s “The Shadow Hour”: notes and comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Friday I stopped in to see Bob and Ro’s production of “The Shadow Hour” <\/a>at the Studio Theater. \u00a0I had never been to The Studio Theater, and I was very\u00a0pleasantly\u00a0surprised. \u00a0A great little theater.<\/p>\n

“The Shadow Hour” is a highly nuanced story. \u00a0The essence of the plot is that a powerful US Senator (Allen Pontes as “Senator Adam Martin”) has a moment of passion with a young intern (Alicia Thayer as “Christy Connelly”.) \u00a0She accuses him of sexual\u00a0harassment. \u00a0The story line is reminiscent of “Twelve Angry Men<\/a>“, with a little bit of “Law and Order<\/a>” and a lot of the Monica Lewinsky<\/a> story.<\/p>\n

But “The Shadow Hour” doesn’t resolve into a simple “guilty” or “not guilty” verdict. Not quite.<\/p>\n

The social issue the play gets at has been raised many, many times. \u00a0It is this: there is no such thing as “consent” when power is not equal. \u00a0The senator has social status, and perhaps hubris. The intern is either a\u00a0naive\u00a0girl dazzled by power or a manipulative schemer. \u00a0The audience gets to decide that for themselves. \u00a0But regardless of the motives of either one of them, it is clear that the dominant person is the senator.<\/p>\n

The question then becomes what life-choices did the young woman have? \u00a0Exactly what kinds of economic and social freedoms were open to her? \u00a0Life requires ambition as much for women as for men. \u00a0Indeed both sexes are imbued\u00a0with ambition. \u00a0How that ambition is allowed to realize and rationalize is dictated by our social structure. \u00a0The senator is powerful by position, the young woman’s power is beauty. \u00a0They both used their power.<\/p>\n

In a moment of frustration one of the women\u00a0jurors\u00a0asks how can a person be convicted of wrong-doing when the lines of conduct are so unclear? \u00a0In her mind both the senator and the intern made bad\u00a0decisions. \u00a0Both are guilty of misconduct. \u00a0Her\u00a0subtle\u00a0point is that the law cannot protect us from harm if we don’t respect basic rules. \u00a0Of course whether the rules are\u00a0inherently\u00a0honest to begin with goes back to the previous question: who has the power?<\/p>\n

The situation is made more complex because the District Attorney (Cameron Johnson as “James Cote”) is ambitious to the point of venality. \u00a0For him the case is a stepping stone to greater glory. \u00a0He sees a higher profile job, a book deal, movie rights, more money and more power — but he doesn’t see the harm being done to the people around him.<\/p>\n

The defense attorney (Ally Krumm as “Leslie Walker”) is prescient about what will happen when powerful Senator meets vulnerable girl, as is the Senator’s assistant (Kris Hunt as “Susan Clover”) but neither of them can persuade the Senator to avoid the danger.<\/p>\n

The jury is conflicted because some of them just want to go home, some of them see the echoes of their own pain in the he-said\/she-said conflict, and some of them want to see a real measure of justice done but don’t know how to apply the law.<\/p>\n

Thus the outcome of “justice” is shaped by our attitudes. \u00a0Our “facts” and “truths” are developed, and not at all absolute.<\/p>\n

The production was well executed: twelve people on a stage bouncing dialog off one another, lots of quick scene shifts, flashbacks and time-shifts make for an interesting and entertaining evening.<\/p>\n