The Private Room

Synopsis

Set both in an exclusive dining room near Wall Street, New York and in a windowless interrogation room at Camp Delta in Guatánamo Bay, Cuba, The Private Room is a bold exploration of the fault lines between an anxious Super Power and the forces proclaiming a new world order. This intense, savagely funny play explores how the cultural assumptions of one world can destroy the lives of strangers thousands of miles away.

Our Review:

31 May 2004

As The Private Room begins, you could be forgiven for thinking you'd stumbled upon a play by David Mamet. Two New York stockbrokers, Tommy and Laurence, verbally wrestle ahead of the arrival of an underling clerk. But the fundamental difference between Mamet and Mark Lee is that while the former explores the crisis in masculinity, the latter looks at the much more current crisis in Americanism and what it is to be an American.

The nervous brokers are waiting for Miss Dempsey, who knows about their dodgy dealings - they need to silence her. But Barbara's no shrinking violet, hailing from a tough area of Queen's and being a part-time soldier. She takes the men on at their own game and earns a promotion into the bargain.

The rest of the piece follows her posting to Guatanamo Bay as an interrogator. Her story runs parallel to that of Laurence, who attempts to lead a 'normal' life (picket fence et al) but fails dismally. Once Barbara's tour of duty is ...

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