Death and the Maiden

by

Ariel Dorfman and directed by Carl Dunnington

The Maskers presented Ariel Dorfman's 'Death and the Maiden' in the Masker's Studio Theatre from Wednesday 9th April to Saturday 12th April 2003.

“What happens when the ghosts of your dark and troubled past suddenly catch up with you?  Can innocence ever be regained once evil has been experienced?  These are just two of the themes explored in Ariel Dorfman’s powerful and intense psychological thriller Death and the Maiden.   

The play was originally set in Post-Pinochet Chile, but could be set in a country that has made the transition from a dictatorship to a democracy and its people have suffered serious human rights violations.  This production was set in El Salvador just after the end of the civil war, in 1992.  One night Paulina’s husband, Gerado, gives a lift to a stranger whose car has broken down on the motorway and subsequently brings him back to their remote beach hose.  Paulina recognises the voice of this stranger as being that of her torturer from many years previously.  She consequently decided to exorcise the ghosts of her past by kidnapping the stranger, Miranda, and putting him on trial for his crimes. 

Cast in order of Appearance

For the Maskers

Photographs by courtesy of Clive Weeks ( www.cwphotos.co.uk )

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