Having killed his wife, Mac has spent twenty years in prison. What has kept him going is imagining his abandoned daughter's life, whether she is now a concert pianist, teacher or something equally positive and fulfilling. Unfortunately in reality, his child is apparently an individual who suffers from bipolar disorder and whose condition has probably been exacerbated by her traumatic childhood. She lacks empathy and ends up committing a crime which is equally horrendous to that which her father committed. While Ché Walker's play is ostensibly about reintegrating prisoners back into society, on his release, Mac, despite a well-honed stoicism, ends up committing another brutal crime. Apparently, as a result of this new act of paternal violence, his daughter claims that she has changed. However, the audience has no real reason to believe that assertion, and it seems unlikely that a lifetime of damage can be turned around by her father's savage act of protection, plus a new-found love. In fact, Burnt-Up Love is an extremely bleak recounting of a cycle violence which seems to offer no way out. As a writer, Walker's dialogue moves inconsistently from street language to the poetic and polysyllabic, and it often seems unrelated to the characters whom he is creating. Serving also as the play's director and a principal actor, the question arises of whether Walker has simply taken on too many jobs. While his performance as Mac is touching, the staging sometimes leaves characters speaking with their faces completely obscured. Venus Raven's lighting while imaginatively using torches and candles, ultimately becomes simply distracting. Characters are constantly moving about symbolically lighting and snuffing out candles while delivering their lines in partial darkness. Playing Mac's child, Scratch, Joanne Marie Mason put in a riveting performance. She manages to bring to life the damaged daughter in a way which is distressing and viscerally affecting. It is a first-rate portrayal which is nicely matched by that of Alice Walker who plays her hard-edged lover who alternates between being concerned about, and infatuated by, the mercurial, Scratch. Burnt-Up Love has some strong performances and provides a grim look into society's treatment of criminals and abused members of an underclass, but in the end, it doesn't contribute much to the important debate about how we deal with these individuals and how they might become well-adjusted and productive members of society.
Rated: ★★
Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Rio Redwood-Sawyerr
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