The Visit

Friedrich Duerrenmatt's The Visit began a four day run at Georgia Southern University's Performance Arts Center on Monday, and I was there for opening night.

The plot of this tragi-comedy centers around a small town that's in the midst of a financial crisis. In spite of the economic hardships there, the towns people have remained strong and united. Their moral resolve is tested, however, when a rich, former resident of the village (the debonair Clarie Zachanassian) makes a return trip to her home town.

As the story unfolds, it is discovered that she left the small town at the age of seventeen, because she had become pregnant by a prominent young man (Anton Shill) there. The towns people also soon discover that Shill had forced two boys to perjure themselves in an attempt to spare his reputation, and that the young girl had left disgraced.

Now she returns, to take vengeance on the young man, who has grown into an adult with a family of his own. Claire, who had prostituted herself to make a living and went on to marry a multitude of men, had also used her street smarts and savviness to build a giant fortune for herself. She offers to donate part of her fortune to help the town in its dire time of need, but only under one condition-- someone must kill Anton Shill.

As the townsfolk get deeper and deeper into debt, the temptation to snuff out Shill becomes greater and greater-- and Shill becomes more and more concerned for his life. At the same time, the ugliness of his earlier actions against Claire become more contentious among the citizens of his village.

This play was very entertaining-- funny at times, but it also forces you to question the foundation of your own morals, and how far you would go to resolve a crisis. Revenge for past transgressions is also an underlying theme-- how many of us can't remember some wrong from our youth that we would not enjoy making right?

This is the only play I attended since becoming a student at Georgia Southern, but I enjoyed it so much...it will definitely not be the last.