Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Kareem Fahmy’s new play dissects a marriage under duress by drawing paranormal parallels to DODI & DIANA

• By drediman
• October 11, 2022
• No Comments

This past weekend, I ventured down to Soho to catch a performance of Kareem Fahmy’s Dodi and Diana. The Colt Coeur world premiere is being hosted by HERE courtesy of its fantastic SubletSeries programming. The play tells the story of Jason and Samira, a successful investment banker and a rising actress who check into The Ritz Paris only to shut themselves in their hotel room with the shades drawn down for three days (intentional shades of the recent lockdown perhaps?). The reason? Jason is convinced that by doing so – based on his astrologer’s very specific advice – the couple (who have been married for seven years) will be able to successfully navigate their increasingly distant and fraught relationship.

Anyone who’s been in a serious relationship knows that it takes work. There’s a good deal of trust involved and communication is paramount. So when these qualities begin to erode, it’s time to be wary – and it’s at this juncture that the two-hander begins. Fahmy captures and dissects the nuances of this tricky time subtlety and with uncanny naturalism, allowing audiences to familiarize themselves with the characters before being sucker-punched by their relationship woes. For much of the play, only gradually and intermittently do troubling signs (e.g., concealments, deceptions, lies) manifest themselves, making for a slow but increasingly tense burn. Until it isn’t. By drawing bizarre but fascinating paranormal parallels between Jason and Shakira’s relationship and the brief but tragic romance between Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed – it’s basically telegraphed that Jason and Samira’s marriage will ultimately crash and burn – one is left questioning whether love has a place at all in such publicly exposed, high powered pairings.

The claustrophobic production has been directed by Colt Coeur usual suspect Adrienne Campbell-Holt with her typical attention to detail and psychological clarity in depicting a marriage under duress and on the brink of painful evolution. In Peter Mark Kendall and Rosaline Elbay, she has two talented and attractive actors who do their characters justice. Although there’s obvious chemistry between Jason and Samira, there’s also a troubled, largely undealt with underbelly of issues that occasionally rises to the surface in the form of physical and emotional withdrawal, as well as cutting looks and remarks – all of which Mr. Kendall and Ms. Elbay portray with disarming truthfulness.

RECOMMENDED

DODI & DIANA
Off-Broadway, Play
Colt Coeur at HERE
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through October 29