he Lab Theatre’s “A Hard Heart,” written by Howard Barker and directed by Craig Rich, chronicles the fall of a nameless, dateless civilization as they witness their own destruction. The play focuses on one particular character, a woman inventor who designs and implements the weaponry and strategies that oppose the “barbarians” who threaten to invade and kill everyone in the city. In the meantime, she confronts the genius of madness and the madness of genius while her whole world is literally falling apart.

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a play this absolutely perfect and cerebral. The acting in “A Hard Heart” is flawless. There is not a lackluster performance amongst the main cast, and each and every actor’s performance is superb. Although the names of the characters, with the exception of one, is never mentioned on stage, you get the feeling that you know these people, even though, if you met them on the streets, you would run for your life.

The play’s main character, the Riddler (Jamie Wilcox,) is like a machine. Her sole purpose is to come up with inventions and diagrams to take down the army that has surrounded the nameless kingdom in a siege. Her son, Atilla (Troy Deustch,) the only character in the play referred to by name, is a weak and spoiled boy, but is just as brutal, manipulative and heartless in the strategy of life as his mother.

The Riddler (Jamie Wilcox, center) and Praxis (Alyssum Hutson, right) fight a war on many fronts in “A Hard Heart."

The Riddler tries to be a caretaker to her boy while being the savior of the city, with the Queen, Praxis (Alyssum Hutson) and the army’s General (Sean Kazarian) bending and fretting to the Riddler’s every cold calculation. In the meantime, The Riddler faces another war of affection and obsession with Seemore, another nameless character who has inexplicably fallen in love with her, roaming the streets of the city, scaring the Riddler into returning his dark passions.

In the midst of all this, the (again) nameless barbarian hordes are bombarding the walls of the city. The lack of labels that each character has, both on stage and off, give way to the play’s sense of realism, timelessness and insane rationality. This could be ancient Rome, Camelot and Washington D.C. all rolled into one. The Riddler acts as the idea man in the war room, while Atilla is the theatrical equivalent Emperor Nero, complete with mad ambition and incest. Each actor performs his or her part with cold precision, disturbing passion and abrasive desire.

In a play with one central character whom the action revolves around, it’s easy to fall in love with the main star of the show. Wilcox’s Riddler is a work of art. The only thoughts in her head are how to keep fighting the war, to draw blood and to keep the enemy on its toes. Notice, however, that I did not mention that she wants to “win.” It’s the fighting and the strategy behind it that she craves— that lets her know she’s alive. She is like the female, intellectual General Patton. Her only purpose is to keep fighting the war because in the war, she is a god. The only time we see her smile like a schoolgirl is when a plan succeeds and people are dying, and the only time she gets emotional is when one of her plans has a flaw she didn’t consider. Her arrogance and conviction is intoxicating, and we see Seemore’s point when he exclaims, “I love you because you love yourself.”

Do yourself a favor and go see the Lab’s production of “A Hard Heart.” The play is, honestly, the best Lab play I have seen.

“A Hard Heart” plays at the Lab Theatre in the University of Utah Performing Arts Building on March 4 through 7 at 7:30 p.m. with a 4:30 p.m. matinee on Friday. Tickets cost $7, $5 for students and are available at the Kingsbury Hall ticket office (581-7100) and through ArtTix (355-ARTS, www.arttix.org).
jordan@red-mag.com