Review: Men Without Shadows
By Tom Penketh
Backstage

“It fouls it up when a guy doesn’t talk.”

Well-timed to coincide with the conflagration in Iraq, the Horizon Theatre Rep’s production of Jean-Paul Sartre's “Men Without Shadows” is a sturdy, harshly directed but ultimately satisfying performance.

Following the parallel stories of a group of captured French Resistance fighters and their interrogators during the waning days of World War II, “Men” is actually a psychologically acute study of how people cope under the stresses of war — especially when forced to make excruciating moral choices.

The intermissionless show introduces a gripping emotional blackness from the outset — almost literally — and then works it and refines it throughout. The effect is so powerful, in fact, that during one harrowing scene several audience members walked out. Though Kitty Black’s translation is sometimes a bit stilted, the actors do a fine job imbuing it with passion and transcendence.

Simon Hammerstein’s direction is mostly strong, though early on many in the cast struggle to find the play’s rhythm. Once found, though, the group finds a nice groove that sustains and builds through the rest of the performance.

Atlantic Theater regular Jordan Lage is terrific as the weary lead interrogator threading his way through his job’s moral ambiguities. Hillary Keegan, the play’s lone woman, gives a raw, inspired performance as a lynchpin to many of the key events. Also wonderful are David B. Heuvelman and Rafael De Mussa as Resistance fighters who respond very differently to their confinement. David Zeffren’s lighting is low-key, and Shara Worden’s music finely counterpoints the performances.