A Hard Heart

Written by Howard Barker

Directed by Will Pomerantz

Clurman Theatre on Theatre Row

410 West 42nd Street

212-279-4200

 

Review by Aaron Riccio

 

Two nations, at an unspecified time and in an uncertain place, are at war. Queen Praxis (Melissa Friedman), exhausted, under siege and out of options, places her armies in the hands of a genius, Riddler (Kathleen Chalfant), who takes a perverse but logical pleasure in her murderous inventions. She is also saving her whimpering son, Atilla (James Wallert), from a conscripted death. But her methods are ruthless, full of self-mutilating sacrifice, and Praxis eventually rues her decision to employ Riddler’s help. “There are deaths and deaths,” she says. There are also plays and plays, and A Hard Heart — Howard Barker’s magnificently perceptive look at what it takes to protect the hearts of a nation and ourselves — is a play.  

 

Riddle Me This: James Wallert and Kathleen Chalfant play dangerous political games in Howard Barker’s A Hard Heart, now playing at the Clurman Theatre.

 

Howard Barker writes like Riddler: he takes pleasure in running logic and politics to their bitter conclusion, yet he also nails the humanity of his characters, from the muted general, Plevna (Dion Graham), to Seemore (Thom Sesma), a man infatuated by Riddler's calm poise and perfect genius. Barker is also unyieldingly tough, utilizing sentences that run through themselves with spasms of sudden realization. The cast excels at delivering Barker’s intricate language, especially Friedman, who despite her regal poise, is constantly surprised by the whispering voice of her own heart — a heart that must be heard.

 

A Hard Heart finds the harsh but supple direction it needs in Will Pomerantz, who fills the play with clever surprises. The set is a fortified box that looks to be impenetrable, only to unfold like paper to expose the emptiness within. Mounds of clothing, like corpses, sprawl alongside this bastion of hollow hope.

 

A Hard Heart is not a hard play to recommend: Its heroes may find only tragedy in triumph, but this remarkable ensemble will find only success in their characters’ nightly suffering.