Ottawa Fringe 2013. Imprisoned by Allie Bell

A drama about a paedophile who tries to justify his attraction to young boys as a police investigator puts him through an interrogation, trying to discover where he has hidden his most recent victim.

The spotlight is on Salvatore (Jeff Lefebvre) , the prisoner. His story is convoluted, repetitive, as he assures us he was only trying to help poor abandoned children by showing them the love their parents never gave them. As he repeats the story, more details emerge about his treatment of those children and about his own character. He is not a cult leader although he feels he must do this work, “ saving children” he smirks, he resists the pressure by the the police investigator to tell the truth, he insists on his godly mission and he often breaks into passages of prayer and incantation in Spanish. These moments were not at all clear because his Spanish was so badly pronounced it sounded completely garbled. In general this actor did not create a frightening character , but rather a disgusting heap of a man who was not interesting to watch.

This is a strange and perverted character who could have become an interesting creature but something went wrong with the text and the performance to bring this about. Of course the subject matter was not pleasant but as theatre it might have worked. The energy level of actor, Jeff Lefebvre was much too low. Tom the policeman, (Doug Philips) was also written in such a way that his character became less and less effective, as the investigator seemed totally ignorant of ways to deal with men who resist questioning in those conditions. He lost his cool, he yelled and swore a lot, something a trained professional would not do in such a situation. As well, his hot temper was not given a chance to develop so he was always producing a fuming anger, leavning his performance no place to go. Thus, his character did not develop, nor did it reveal the extent which he is being manipulated by Salvatore. Tom did not show he was a professional in any meaning of the world but appeared to be reacting instinctively to Salvatore’s goading. In that sense, the text is very weak, but it also appears that the actor did not try to capture the mental movement of this investigator, caught in such an emotional trap. In all, a play that needs much reworking and a good discussion about the psychological roller coaster ride that this text is trying to capture..

Imprisoned plays at Arts Court Theatre,  directed by Paul Dervis, presented by Rebel Rabbit Productions.