“There comes a day when what’s right is what you want to do,” intones The Young Man in Terrence McNally’s short and disturbing play, Sweet Eros. QLive! maintains the dubious (some might say disgusting) darkness of the original in their intense-as-Hell production at Water Tower Theatre’s Out of the Loop Fringe Festival.
The play opens on a sparse Stone Cottage stage that is quite dim save some lighted candles and a subdued spot on a bound, blindfolded, and gagged young woman (Stephanie Cleghorn). However, she really whimpers, cries, and moans alone up there for a long time (15-20 minutes) as the audience is seated, heightening the already uncomfortable mood of the story.
Said tale is simple enough, as The Young Man (Abel Flores, Jr.) has abducted the girl and taken her to his country home to make her pay, indoctrinate her, torment her, and/or seduce her because of a couple of relationships gone wrong in his past.
Adam Adolfo directs the two superb and über-challenging acting performances, and they are what save the show from being merely an exercise in psychological torture porn. That being said, it is difficult to look past all of the casual violence and suffering to enjoy the good in a play that is so base and without remorse.