The Teatro Colosseo in Rome continued its series of new English theater with a stark production of Anthony Neilson's The Censor. The well-circulated phrase, "erotic generosity and bureaucratic cruelty," best sums up this curiously involving drama. Neilson offers few cues as to time or locale, so this could be any modern country where the public's interest in film content outweighs private liberty of expression. Power over what the public can see is concentrated in the hands of The Censor (Pietro Bontempo), a suitably repressed type.
Confronted by liberated director/producer Miss Fontaine (Eleonora Pariante), he at first resists then succumbs to her charm and explicit physical persuasion. She more than succeeds in convincing him to pass her wordless soft-porn reportage on a couple's emotions as seen through their sex life and classify it as an "art film." Now physically and emotionally liberated himself, he becomes genuinely distraught at the loss of his new lover after she is unexpectedly killed.
Director Imogen Kusch focuses on the censor himself, seated behind a large desk angled toward the audience. Miss Fontaine is seen mostly in profile or from behind, while The Wife (Fabiana Iacozzilli) is seated behind a translucent triangular panel for most of the action. This accords with Neilson's attention to the mental state of the Censor.
Kusch's honest handling of the sex scenes contrasted with the Censor's guilt over betraying his wife and his presumed ideals. Unfortunately, Pietro Bontempo's schematic investigation of his character's mental state detracted from this interesting drama. No complaints about Eleonora Pariante, a strong and engaging actress, or Fabiana Iacozzilli, who offered a total picture of the betrayed wife uncomfortably enduring her husband's lies.
The set by Enzo De Camillis featured inventively reused industrial materials surrounding standard office furniture; Michela Marino's costumes were apt. Lighting by Edoardo Sabelli and music plus voiceovers by Andrea Mieli and Sergio Ferrari all added to the effective presentation.
