Necessary Targets

Eve Ensler
Pepperdine University, Malibu
C Cubed

Set mainly in a Bosnian refugee camp in 1995 and with an all-female cast, this is a very powerful piece which explores not only the stories and needs of the five refugees but also shows the effects of meeting them on the two American women who have come to help them, psychiatrist J.S., who has not been involved in this kind of situation before, and her much more experienced assistant Melissa, a therapist who is also writing a book on the effects of conflict on women in war zones throughout the world.

Beginning with an excuciatingly embarrassing group therapy session, the relationships between the two groups - and between the two American women - develop and grow until a shocking but not unexpected revelation precipitates a real crisis.

The cast of seven, working in a very basic but flexible setting which they change while singing some haunting Bosnian songs, build up the tension subtley and skillfully, leaving the audience "sadder and wiser".

Reviewer: Peter Lathan

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