The Town of No One

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RE:An existentialist, nihilistic but thought-provoking work
This play has been billed as a ?surprising black comedy? but, while it may be ?black,? there really is nothing comedic about it. Rather, it is a dark, existentialist, nihilistic work which provides few laughs. But if it is not funny, it certainly is thought-provoking and, on that score alone, it is worth seeing. But what point, exactly, is the playwright, Tariq Hanami, trying to make? Surely it?s not that an anarchic town with no rules and no laws, depicted here so distastefully, is more to be desired than a world in which laws and rules exist. But equally surely, it?s not that rules and laws imposed by force and a society suffering from religious mystical delusions is preferable to one that is based on rational considerations and individual freedom. Perhaps Hanami is simply saying ?a plague on both your houses? ? on both the libertarian dystopia that inevitably would result from a total lack of rules and laws and the totalitarian monstrosity of a state that would inevitably emerge from the forcible imposition of rules and laws on an unwilling citizenry coupled with that society?s facile acceptance of religious platitudes. Or maybe Hanami is saying that what is really needed is something in between ? a compromise suggestive of the ?Grand Bargain? that eluded Barack Obama and John Boehner. In any case, it?s worth thinking about. I?ve posted an expanded review of this and other Fringe and non-Fringe plays on my blog www.aseatontheaisle.blogspot.com.

Reviewed by alansshows on Thursday, Aug 25th, 2011