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Second opinions in the operating theater
Orbiter 3's world premiere of Emily Acker's 'I Am Not My Motherland'
Mark Cofta
The playwright collective Orbiter 3 produces the third of seven new plays, one by each member between last July and December 2018, with the same boldly economical aesthetic shown with James Ijames's Moon Man Walk and Emma Goidel's A Knee That Cannot Bend. Emily Acker's I Am Not My Motherland, directed by Rebecca Wright in the Lantern Theater's space (St. Stephen's Theater), is as serious as those first two, and more ambitious in scope, though not quite as ready for production.
Isabella Sazak plays Dr. Amina Leroy, a veteran Palestinian-American surgeon, and Hannah Gold is her student, Dr. Jessica Rosel, whose grandfather fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Both characters flash back to the past, but Acker avoids broaching Middle East politics (past or present) to focus on the treatment of women in war.
They converge in the present when their patient Irv (Brian Anthony Wilson) needs a cancerous kidney removed. In this densely packed, always-swirling 75-minute drama, Acker reveals patients's ignorant dismissal of female doctors, the medical profession's pressures, and the complicated histories that haunt both women. The past is abruptly inserted, and not always trustworthy — "Hollywood" scenes portray an unreal view of events. Conversations in two times overlap.
Home is where the heart is
Masha Tsimring's set and lighting try to clarify the many shifts in time and perspective with varying degrees of success. A character's name flashed on white panels means a scene reflects that person's point of view, and that point of view can shift several times within a few minutes. A white tree suspended from above that floats up and down, and a cage that's used as an operating table, summit, and urban hiding place (although never as a cage) are the primary set pieces, along with a chair and a light panel for viewing x-rays. The predominant colors, unlike the issues, are black and white, punctuated by vertical florescent tube lighting.
The actors' assured and nimble performances, supported by clever costume shifts created by Jamie Grace-Duff, keep the action moving between time periods and subjective perspectives. Are these doctors defined and limited by their upbringings, their motherlands? The title asserts one answer, but the play feels appropriately complex and resists the title's declaration.
Considered independently of the high bar set by Orbiter 3's first two productions, I Am Not My Motherland is a professional premiere of a promising play by an exciting new playwright.
What, When, Where
I Am Not My Motherland. By Emily Acker, Rebecca Wright directed. Through July 31, 2016 at St. Stephen's Theater, 923 Ludlow St., Philadelphia. Orbiter3.org.
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