Saint Louis University Theatre raised the curtain on its fall
season Friday with Caryl Churchill’s “Far Away,” one of the
mainstays of modern British theatre. This unconventional foray into
drama, directed by Tom Martin, makes for a strong start to both the
season and the year for SLU Theatre.

Joan (Emily Piro) is the center of the action. As a young girl,
she accidentally witnesses something that will change her
life–something that she must not tell anyone, not even her
parents.

Her aunt Harper (Jennifer Theby), responsible for Joan at the
time, sweetly makes her swear to secrecy before she puts her back
to bed.

Joan divulges the details of what she has seen in reverse order,
heightening the suspense of this first scene that introduces a
curious child who will continue to get herself into trouble, even
as she enters into married life.

She appears next as a young woman working in a hat-maker’s shop;
it becomes clear in this scene that the setting of the play is not
rooted in time or geographical location.

It is here that Joan meets her husband, fellow hat-maker and
soon-to-be revolutionary Todd (James Malone). Todd’s affinity for
Joan grows quickly, as the pair becomes bound together by the
injustice that their militant spirits resolve to rise up against–
all the while handcrafting abstract hats.

Joan returns to her aunt’s home– seeking refuge, this time with
her husband, Todd, bringing the action of the play full-circle in
the third and final segment of the play. The tension between Todd
and the embittered Harper is successfully executed in this final
scene.

Although Joan undoubtedly evolves during the course of the play,
she maintains a certain innocence and wonder, an aspect of her
character that Piro preserves and expresses in the final
monologue.

Many questions are left unanswered; however, it is not the plot
that is necessarily significant in “Far Away” but the growth and
experience for which Joan is a host.

This is a play that everyone walks away from with something–but
this something is different for everyone, and for those who expect
to make sense of everything that happens, this something might just
be confusion.

There are countless layers and facets of meaning from which a
person can take what he will and all facets offer enlightenment. It
is important to remember that of these things there is none more
satisfactory than another.

Under the direction of Martin, the essential elements of drama
come together seamlessly: acting, music, scenic design and
costuming. Hats emerge as a significant metaphor in the play’s most
obtuse scene, but a critic’s conjecture as to precisely how they
function is probably no better than anyone else’s.

The nature of the play is such that audience members are both
intended and encouraged to develop a personal interpretation of the
story, which is independent of any temporal context.

While this element distances the action from the present day, it
is also conceivable that Joan and her world could exist here and
now.

The title, then, is both accurate and ironic. Performed without
intermission, the duration of this play falls just short of an
hour.

Performances continue this weekend with performances both Friday
and Saturday night at 8 p.m. Tickets are available in the box
office in Xavier Hall (977-3327).