In The Chamber 2010: Last Men

The lights turned down, signalling the start of Theatre Projects Manitoba’s “In The Chamber 2010: Last Men”. The crowd of around 65 CreComm students from Red River College quieted down, turned-off their phones and gazed their eyes through the darkness. In The Chamber 2010 was divided into two one-man plays—two different stories which revolved around two men’s struggles to break-out from a crippling system.

Part One: Last Man in Krakendorf: 

Doug an agricultural engineer played by Gordon Tanner, paced around his motel room dressed in a business suit. He set-up his camcorder and made a startling confession to his employer Warren Buffet, who runs a hog farm business. Doug was emotionally overwhelmed and had a change of heart after he learned of a recent barn fire which killed all the pigs in it.

Through this lengthy once-act play, I got the notion that this was all about the different issues we’re facing. Using the cruel treatment of pigs in hog farms as an example, the play attempted to create a picture of injustice. Tanner did a stellar job portraying the character of Doug. His acting was undoubtedly of high-calibre and he did an amazing job mastering his lines that lasted for an hour. Although I already understood the very essence of the story right from the beginning, it could have been shortened and probably saved the actor from dragging on to make a one-hour play. I would have to admit that I dozed-off at least a couple of times but at the moment I opened my eyes and shook myself to regain my senses, I can say that I didn’t miss much after all.

I had watched so many plays before including ones that portrayed an unjust society. As what Doug said in the play, “Why did the choice that led to disaster made sense at the time?” The ever-growing capitalism and industrialization paved the way to human disaster. The hog farm business was used to make that point clear as well as depict the actual conditions of pigs in the province’s hog farms.

Part Two: Last Man in Puntarenas: 

Hugo played by Steven Ratzlaff was a man struggling to get out of a system that crippled his very soul. Set in a dimly lit restaurant with three tables and four white balloons tied onto the seats’ backrests (which represented his guests), Hugo used his retirement dinner to awaken his colleagues from a discovery he made in Puntarenas, Costa Rica.

Hugo described to his colleagues how easy it was to invest on this side of the world—great for its medical (and even sex) tourism. Visibly, Hugo was taken aback and crushed by his own personal experiences on how a failed heart surgery claimed the young life of his son, Manolo who was born with Down Syndrome. Hugo also recalled the time when his former wife Juanita refused to undergo a pre-natal testing, and only to discover that their newborn baby Manolo was suffering from Down Syndrome. As Hugo put it, “...she made a choice.”

This play like the first one was undoubtedly long, too. Hugo’s dialogues were spiced up with a lot of vulgar words which I think were better off omitted without affecting the story’s integrity. On the part when Hugo read a languishingly long letter, surely saved the actor from memorizing its many lines.

In conclusion—

Both plays touched on issues that were both societal and personal in nature. The artistic abilities of the actors have brought justice to those issues by drawing a big picture. But in its grave attempt to awaken the senses of the audience is a totally different story.

In The Chamber 2010 was undoubtedly a treat for the intellectual because of its litany of dialogues but was a disappointment to anyone who wishes to be entertained and served up with a good spread of weekend specials.