Wallace Shawn’s The Fever

TUESDAY, JUNE 16TH: Performed by Paul Lazar, Directed by Pete Simpson



WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17TH: Performed by Pete Simpson, Directed by Paul Lazar

The nameless narrator of this blistering monologue lies ill and alone in a dreary hotel
room in a poverty-stricken country. A political execution is about to take place beneath
his window. Far from the glib comforts of his own life, he struggles with memories and
his own conscience, which are challenged by the misery and poverty he sees. With
compassion, eloquence, and ruthless self-scrutiny, the playwright discovers that having
good intentions toward the dispossessed is not enough. As the narrator reminisces and
agonizes over his own responsibility for the downtrodden, he reaches the inevitable
conclusion that the politically correct are guilty themselves unless they take action. At
the play's conclusion, the narrator has succeeded in defining his own guilt but is
uncertain whether or not he has the personal courage to join in the struggle. Aghast at
his own weakness, he longs for forgiveness and the strength to earn it.