Taking a journey of creepy brilliance in ‘The Nether’

SHARE Taking a journey of creepy brilliance in ‘The Nether’
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Steve Schine and Maya Hlava in Jennifer Haley’s play, “The Nether,” at A Red Orchid Theatre. (Photo: Michael Brosilow)

At once profoundly creepy and eerily incisive, Jennifer Haley’s “The Nether” — now in a haunting, chillingly seductive production by A Red Orchid Theatre —  is a stunning cautionary tale. While it draws on the most theatrical techniques, it conjures an exceptionally probing and provocative look at where virtual reality, by way of the Internet, might be headed — a place where “artificial” transgressions can very well turn out to be every bit as pernicious as those that unfold in “the real world.”

‘THE NETHER’ Highly recommended When: Through March 12 Where: A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells Tickets: $30 – $35 Info: www.aredorchidtheatre.org Run time: 85 minutes, with no intermission

Dark, disturbing and, in its profoundly perverse way, weirdly beautiful, the play’s fantastical premise is based on an all too believable future possibility as it spins the story of men who “cross over” into another world that is advertised as being “safe,” though to be sure it is very far from benign. Riffing in some way on the existence of what we already know about the Internet’s “black sites” (which engage in  everything from political intrigue, to the sale of weapons and drugs, to human trafficking), Haley suggests that the increasing sophistication of artificial intelligence could very well be used to create a deeply covert site where those drawn to child pornography and child sexual abuse could exist in a “safe” realm, free from punishment. Think of “The Nether” as a fully twisted twist on “Alice in Wonderland,” infused with a 21st century variation on “1984.”

Ashley Neal and Guy Van Swearingen in Jennifer Haley’s play, “The Nether,” at A Red Orchid Theatre. (Photo: Michael Brosilow)

Ashley Neal and Guy Van Swearingen in Jennifer Haley’s play, “The Nether,” at A Red Orchid Theatre. (Photo: Michael Brosilow)

It all begins with a searing interrogation as Sims (Guy Van Swearingen), the developer and overlord of the site dubbed “The Hideaway,” has been hauled in for questioning by Morris (Ashley Neal), a detective who has been investigating his lucrative covert activities. Among the more eerie things she manages to extract from Sims is this observation: Real children are hard to find nowadays; they don’t play outside the way they used to. Sims also insists that his customers are engaged in consensual role-playing, and that as an admitted pedophile this “realm” he has created is the place men where like him can be themselves without consequences. Of course there are always consequences.

Morris also calls in one of Sims’ customers, Doyle (Doug Vickers), the pedophile she hopes she can break. A hefty middle-aged man, who has spent his life teaching high school physics, he has “crossed over.” And the object of his obsession (or, and this gets tricky, the total object of transference), is Iris (Maya Lou Hlava). A beguiling girl dressed in a pink, Edwardian-style pinafore, Iris is forever nine years old, although her innocence comes disconcertingly paired with the subtle allure of knowing guilelessness and an old soul.

The Hideaway also is filled with the enchantments of times past, from record players to games of jacks, with far more sinister things to be experienced along the way, too. And even Woodnut (Steve Schine), an undercover agent who plays at being a customer, cannot avoid falling prey to its enticements.

Karen Kessler’s impeccable direction keeps the mix of tension, mystery and transgression at just the right levels. And her actors are frighteningly good, with Van Swearingen steely in his defensiveness, Vickers at once vulnerable and guilty, Schine suggesting he is caught up in something beyond his full understanding and Neal both relentless and damaged in her own way. But it is Hlava, a phenomenal young actress of grace, sly wit and impeccable control, who is the great discovery here. Her performance is uncanny, and will leave you eager to see what she will do next.

Another blazing star is the show’s design. Set designer John Musial is a magician, whose forest of twisted polar trees is made of black cables, and is set against a mirrored sky — all exquisitely lit by Mike Durst, whose glowing forest of LED bulbs emit golden sparkles. The whole thing has both a touch of heaven and the hallmarks of a virtual hell, and captures the essence of a line in a Theodore Roethke poem quoted in the play: “Dark, dark my light, and darker my desire.”

Maya Hlava and Guy Van Swearingen in Jennifer Haley’s ‘The Nether,” at A Red Orchid Theatre. (Photo: Michael Brosilow)

Maya Hlava and Guy Van Swearingen in Jennifer Haley’s ‘The Nether,” at A Red Orchid Theatre. (Photo: Michael Brosilow)

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