The setting is the west of the 1800’s. The Felling opens with Alaistair Bren being locked into the hoosegow by (sheriff) Palmer, for murder and worse. The jail is visible to the family of the victim, playing cards for bullets, drinking bourbon from mugs. They are all waiting for Alaistair’s verdict, so they can feel the comfort of seeing justice done. Alaistair has raped and killed their mother. Will he be hanged or taken out with a revolver? Every activity feels like ritual, with certain repeated gestures and declarations. They ignore Alaistair’s attempts to engage them in conversation, but express contempt for his depravity. As time grows longer, politeness and respect among themselves begin to give way to vindictiveness and accusations.
Written by Mitchell Parrack, The Felling examines the nature of ignoring higher law because we lack a moral compass, or live in a vacuum that cares more about rules then the scaffolding that supports them. Toots and Peach are lovers, Farber and Polly are wedded but can’t conceive a child. Maynie is angry with Palmer because he seems hesitant to take the next step and execute Alaistair. I’m not sure it’s obvious from the outset that Alaistair is also a member of this clan, a sibling, but it gives us the opportunity to further reflect on a broken bond. Parrack creates a kind of secular piety among this family that supposedly cleaves to God and devotion, but lacks compassion and mercy, when circumstances demand. I can’t tell you too much. But Parrack immerses us in a catastrophic event that exposes hypocrisy, cruelty, degradation, misogny. He recreates a private universe that turns on less fortunate values.
Parrack coins a rough dialect that blends erudition with primitive reasoning. Shakespeare marries Mamet? Diction is elevated but the content is poisonous, angry, bitterly resigned. It weaves a kind of spell, that teaches us how to grasp, as we listen. Parrack has taken a disturbing premise: a man punished for raping and killing his mother, and brought out it complexity. He considers the primal blessing of family connection and the violation of it. But more than that, he dives into a state of mind where self-loathing makes grace imperceivable.
Ochre House presents: The Felling, playing April 21st-May 12th, 2018. Wed-Sat at 8:15 PM. 825 Exposition Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75226. 214-826-6273. www.ochrehousetheater.org.