REVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
Like most Stray Cat Theatre (SCT) productions, their current offering “How to Defend Yourself” probes a serious issue confronting our society – raping women. Liliana Padilla’s 2019 play that premiered off-Broadway in 2023 deals with the shame of confronting such a violation as it challenges a recipient to resolve such a fate and move on with life.
The play explores this difficult issue in diverse ways – sometimes with humor, sometimes with extreme seriousness, and sometimes like a classroom exploration of the topic. It is set now in a college where four women and two men go through a collection of exercises as they attempt to figure out ways that may or may not work to protect them.
Elizabeth Broeder stages the piece displaying the various approaches effectively as essayed by a strong acting ensemble that capture the various characters with thoughtful perspectives on the unique takes to handle such an awful situation.
Christine Ward handles the instructor Brandi’s perspective with insightful directness. Meghan Ramos tackles gun obsessed Diana with explosive dynamics, Mantra Rostami is the more introspective Mojdeh while Angelica Saario’s Nikki and Hanna Nur’s Kara are both inward and outward directed. As the two men in the class, Payten Christopher McLeod’s Eggo and Griffin Slivka’s Andy expose the male perspective in candid discussions about forced and consensual sex.
“How to Defend Yourself” is a complex exploration of what rape causes and how challenging it is to recover from such an attack.
Grade: A