Extremities

17 to 26 March 2011 at 8pm
Matinees Sunday 20 and Saturday 26 March at 2pm
No show Monday 21 March

An explosive melodrama about an attempted rape and a woman’s stark retaliation. Alone in a rural New Jersey farmhouse, Marjorie is accosted by an intruder but manages to escape and trap him. But what is she to do with him next? Does she release him and risk another attack? By the time her roommates Terry and Patricia come home, she has taken the law into her own hands. Extremities is a story of victim and perpetrator, vengeance and power, and justification of self-preservation.

“A white knuckle psychological thriller.” -- USA Today

Contains language and themes that may offend.

Cast

Marjorie

Raul

Terry

Patricia

Notes from the playwright:
In May 1978 Mastrosimone met a fifty-five year old woman. She was a rape victim. A nineteen year old man broke into her apartment with intent to rob. Thinking no one home, she startled him when she awoke. He raped her, beat her with a lamp and fled. Months later the trial began. There was evidence of rape but no evidence that he was the rapist. The case was dismissed. On the courthouse steps the rapist walked up behind her and said, “If you think that was bad, wait until the next time.” She told Mastrosimone “There was a moment during the rape when the animal stopped and reached for one of my cigarettes on the night table … he couldn’t reach it … he put one foot on the floor… at that moment I knew I could kick him and hurt him … the moment waited for me … but I just lay there … paralyzed … I did nothing. I will think about that moment for the rest of my life … I will fantasize about what would have happened.” Extremities was written to explore that ‘what if’ moment.