The married couple in Empathitrax are cited in the program as “Her” and “Him”, suggesting they could be any married couple. Other than the cool, crisp whites and grays of Amelia Bransky’s understated set, there’s not much to suggest we’re in the near future, other than the title drug itself. This husband and wife have been married more than ten years, and things have taken a severe downturn. Possibly because of the wife’s struggles with clinical depression. Empathitrax, conscientiously supplied only to the wedded, removes any impediments between an individual and someone else’s emotions. Hidden or not. These two have decided Empathitrax might just be the way to salvage their marriage.
At the outset, this new drug has a profoundly blissful impact on the relationship. Insightful revelations emerge. Each is moved by the other’s undisclosed tenderness and frailty and quirks of attraction. Then this progressive exploration into the psyche begins to go haywire. He uses Empathitrax to access her feelings when she is deep within the torment of her pathology. She then tells him she’s been weaning herself off her Zoloft for weeks, with the help of Joe, their Contact/Guide from the company that manufactures Empathitrax. After this horrible episode, she refuses to resume her Zoloft, declaring she’s tired of taking refuge in a Band Aid.
Playwright Ana Nogueira has taken the predicament of a sweet, miserable couple (and what seems like an innocuous solution) using it to foment the perfect storm. She is convinced that everything would be solved if her husband could thoroughly comprehend her illness, and he is already exhausted by her Herculean struggles. Instead of engaging the prolonged process of learning how and when to empathize with each other, which is a choice, they erase boundaries that are there for a reason. Empathitrax is a virtual illustration of wrongheaded choices, in the context of mental illness. Psychotropics make the illness manageable. Support is crucial, but, no one one person can save you. Nogueira involves us, intimately, in this couple’s desperate attempts to fix what’s broken in their attachment. It doesn’t feel that way at first, but they will evince their desperation before the final lights out. This is brilliant, compelling, nerve-wracking theatre.
Second Thought Theatre presents Empathitrax, playing April 4th-28th, 2018. Bryant Hall at Kalita Humphreys Campus. 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd, Dallas, Texas 75219. Ovation Tix: 1-888-811-4111. info@secondthoughttheatre.com