Edinburgh 2002

Fringe

Stone Crabs
CO2

Munira Mirza

The title of this play refers to a species of crab in America, which, once caught by fishermen to have its claw removed, eventually grows another back as if nothing has happened. Through numbness and seemingly willful amnesia, the crab returns to the sea only to be caught again. No-one can explain why it continues to return.

The title is the probably the most interesting thing about this somewhat cliched play. The story is told through the eyes of a Brazilian couple, grappling with the anguish of domestic violence. He regularly beats and humiliates her and she is trapped in the house, unable to escape his threats. She dreams she can see a woman like herself around the house, wearing a wedding dress under a corset of barbed wire. This, of course, being a rather unambiguous representation of painful entrapment in marriage.

While there are some moving moments; for instance, when the couple make love, this play is unable to arouse any great emotion or concern for the characters. The heavy reliance on folk guitar to punctuate each scene sentimentalises the wife and her struggle. Whilst the issues raised by this play may be of interest, this play does not reveal anything new about them or treat them with much dramatic skill.

Run over.