Courtesy photo Aaron Eckman, as Victor, is interrogated by Rick Fredrick, who plays a representative of the state, Nick.

In an era where fluff entertainment reigns supreme, the AtticRep, a theater in residence at Trinity University, has a knack for picking relevant topics and sparking serious discussion. Because of this talent, they’ll soon be taking a piece to the U.S. capital about state-sponsored torture.

AtticRep will return to the first play the company tackled in 2006, Harold Pinter’s drama, “One for the Road.” Performances will take place in San Antonio Thursday, July 17, through Sunday, July 20. Then the company will perform the play five times at the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington D.C. the following week.

“That was the time of Abu Ghraib, so it was relevant,” said producing artistic director Roberto Prestigiacomo of the company’s initial performance. “And it’s still relevant because we’re still dealing with the issue of whether or not we did torture or whether it is fine to torture people if we can get information that can keep us safe.”

The play is about a husband, wife and child being interviewed by a man who represents the state. Though there is an element of danger in the play, no violence is shown on stage, Prestigiacomo said.
“If this play was longer, a full-length play, that would have been really tough to sit through,” Prestigiacomo said. “But being 30 minutes and delivering the message the way it does, the length is just perfect.”

“One for the Road” isn’t the only play the company has done that touches on the topic of torture. In December, AtticRep performed “Back of the Throat,” by Yussef El Guindi, which included racial profiling and waterboarding.

“As with any Harold Pinter play, or with any play that we produce, we don’t really teach a lesson,” Prestigiacomo said. “We show an event ..... and then the audience will make up its mind as to whether it’s good or bad.”

The difference this time around is that the audience will span half the country.

“This is our first time (traveling to a festival), but it is not going to be our last,” Prestigiacomo said.%“(AtticRep) has not been around for a long time. This was our first opportunity. We will definitely, in the future, seek to bring our work in San Antonio to other stages, whether it is national or international stages.”

Jennifer Lloyd | 210SA