When we think about assassination—as who hasn't, in recent years?—we usually think of firearms, or edged blades, but history has evidenced repeatedly the efficacy of virtually undetectable toxins in the hands of those who prepare their masters' food. That's the premise of Meghan Brown’s The Tasters, a portrait of three female prisoners assigned to sample the epicurean meals destined for the Great Leaders of an unnamed country. If you don't die after ten seconds, you get to finish the meal, and this is why Bianca, the woman pregnant with the general's child, considers herself safe—even privileged—to be chosen for these duties, while Corrine longs for her zealotry to earn her recognition by her superiors. When the captive leader of the Resistance is delivered into bondage and promptly declares a hunger strike, however, the power structure is upended. Except for the uniforms (military vs. civilian dress), totalitarian governments in plays are depicted the same from Brecht to Havel, so the oppressors whose machinations are reported in casual hearsay are represented onstage by a single generically egotistical high-ranking officer and a single likewise generically spineless lackey. This leaves the bulk of the dramatic action to the internees, whose pschodynamics are rendered spellbinding by the ensemble-style performances of Shariba Rivers and Danielle Pereira. playing the intrepid counselors to Ramirez' ambivalent mother-to-be. This is a trio that rivets our attention for 90 suspenseful minutes, despite the sly distractions of award-winning property designer Mary O'Dowd's mouth-watering culinary arrangements.
