Review: "The Nether" at the Coal Mine Theatre
Joe Szekeres
Chief Toronto Theatre Critic
A reminder to future audiences of the play’s highly controversial subject material and possible triggers. Additionally there are some spoiler alerts in this article, but I’m trying to keep them to a minimum.
Jennifer Haley’s science fiction crime drama is set in the future where the Internet has become ‘The Nether’, a place where people can enter many virtual reality realms. Users may log in, choose an identity, and then indulge in any desire they wish.
We are introduced to Detective Morris (a sensational, gut wrenching performance by Katherine Cullen) who is investigating a realm called The Hideaway, (a Victorian looking era setting) where pedophiles may live out their fantasies involving children avatars. Morris grills the creator of the Hideaway, Sims (a frighteningly convincing performance by David Storch) about the harmful effects of involvement and participation in this virtual setting. What follows during this interrogation are questions about lines being drawn between what might be considered moral and immoral in the virtual world versus what we know as the real world. Sims sees nothing wrong with the claims Detective Morris makes about the immorality of the sexual violence across the divide of the virtual realm.
Yes, at times, I did feel extremely uncomfortable watching this production. I saw a patron leave about 20 minutes into the story, so I have no idea whether he felt uncomfortable as well; nevertheless, I wanted to see where director Peter Pasyk would take me in telling this captivating and worrisome tale. He did remove me from my comfort zone periodically, but I was fascinated in watching where the plot was headed.
Mr. Pasyk’s vision gripped solidly my concerns and fears about the future of technological advancement. His perceptive direction of the play also made me confront important questions about the ethics of why and how we use technology, not only by ourselves but also in our relationships with others. And these are important questions and ideas to ask as productive people of the twenty first century.
This approximately 80 seat Danforth theatre is the perfect setting for this intense and, at times, claustrophobic production that made me pay full attention throughout. Patrick Lavender’s initial design of a darkened stage with a lone chair dimly lit caught my attention immediately. Richard Feren’s loud blaring music filled the ears of the audience as we waited for the production to begin. What I thought was only going to be a one level set magically became two levels thanks to Nick Bottomley’s highly effective projection designs of a 19th century Victorian drawing room setting.
As the child avatar in The Hideaway, Hannah Levinson boldly captures a virginal innocence dressed in white but, through longing looks and glances, seduces customer Woodnut (a remarkably daring performance by Mark McGrinder). Rest assured we never, ever, see the act committed but it was the suggestion alone that makes me feel nauseated. And yet, in the Program Notes, Dr. Simon Longstaff, Executive Director from The Ethics Centre in Sydney Australia wrote in 2017: “[One} could argue that because no real [people] are involved in virtual reality, nothing immoral has happened…[entering a virtual world] can be a form of release, something therapeutic, like any fantasy or when we daydream, read a book or see a play.” This latter comment by Dr. Longstaff sparked quite the conversation I had with friends in the car on the way home.
Detective Morris has employed the services of (or blackmailed) Doyle (a finely nuanced performance by Robert Persichini). Doyle prefers to live in The Nether. He has lost all sense of perspective, and Mr. Persichini perfectly captures this loss and abandonment in his interrogation by Morris. Yet, another moral issue surfaces with Doyle by the end of the play. His attraction to a literally blind love with an attraction to replenished beauty presents another understanding of attraction involving moral and ethical considerations in a virtual world.
Final Comments: For me, The Nether is a play which needs to be discussed for the sensitive issues that are raised. I would hope the company might consider some possible post show talk backs before the November 4 closing. In any event, The Nether is an important play to see as all of us continue to grapple with the dizzying heights in technological advancement.
The Nether continues to November 4, 2018 at Coal Mine Theatre, 1454 Danforth Avenue. Visit www.coalminetheatre.com or www.studio180theatre.com for further information or to purchase tickets online.
Publicity photo of the company of The Nether courtesy of Tim Leyes.
Directed by Peter Pasyk
Production runs approximately 75 minutes with no intermission.
The Coal Mine Theatre is located at 1454 Danforth Avenue in Toronto. Visit www.coalminetheatre.com or www.studio180theatre.com for further information or to purchase tickets online.