Consequences have actions, even the ones we don’t think about. If you take the “butterfly effect” as fact and apply it outside of science and bad Aston Kutcher films, almost anything we do must have some unintended aftermath, right?

This is one of the central questions in "The Fever," a play being performed by Open Water Theatre Arts at Zero Station through this weekend.
Written by Wallace Shawn (who you may also recognize from "The Princess Bride"), the play is not typical in many ways. For starters it’s more like a monologue, performed by just one person who sits on a couch or chair for the duration of the play.

The narrator is someone who could be very much like you or someone you know – they’re not wealthy, but they’re familiar with the trappings of a comfortable life. And into this comfortable life comes a tour bus filled with guilt, as over the course of the play the narrator is forced to face his life, his actions, his country, and everything else he thought he knew about his place in the world.

"It’s a sort of unraveling of the character," said Jennie Hahn, Open Water’s artistic director who is also splitting the role of the narrator with Keith Anctil. "Trying to find out what is this that is happening, what are my responsibilities and how do I live a life that is acceptable to me."

With no sets, song–and–dance numbers or ancillary characters, the play compels audiences to confront what the narrator says and how it relates to their own experiences, Hahn said.
"It really doesn’t allow people to escape from what the character is saying," she said.

In presenting the play Open Water and Zero Station collaborated with Citizen Salon, the Portland–based forum on social issues, politics and current events, to hold a series of discussions on economic injustice and poverty.

On Saturday artist and playwright Marty Pottenger will lead a discussion entitled "Enoughedness" beginning at 2 p.m. at Zero Station, which is located on Anderson Street in Portland.
"The Fever" runs now through Sunday, with a $10 suggested donation. To find out performance times head over to Open Water for details.

E-mail this entry to a friend