Theater Review: Geva Theatre Center’s “Informed Consent”

Race is clearly a topic of interest at Geva.
It is addressed very obviously in the recent “Clybourne
Park,” and more subtly in “Informed Consent,” a brand-new play by Deborah Zoe Laufer in its world-premiere production. To make a very
rough generalization, one play deals with race in terms of society, the other
in terms of science. Both plays raise interesting questions, even if they don’t
have any answers.

Part of the action of “Informed Consent” is based on fact. In
1990, the isolated Havasupai Tribe, living at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, gave
blood samples to academic researchers who were trying to study the tribe
members’ DNA to find clues to the tribe’s devastating rise in diabetes. When
the tribe found out that the university had used the DNA for other purposes
(including genetic research that contradicted the tribe’s history of its
origins), the Havasupai sued the university, successfully.

Playwright Laufer uses this story,
with its background of a violation in trust between the university and the
tribe, more or less as it happened, and adds a complementary plot centering on
the lead scientist in the research. The scientist’s mother died in her 30s of Alzheimer’s Disease; the scientist is certain to inherit it,
and her young daughter is likely to as well. A test will give the answer for
the daughter, but the scientist and her husband differ over whether to take it —
she wants to know the truth, he can live with the uncertainty.

The two stories play off of each other well, but Laufer adds quite a bit more: the cast members often go out
of character, offering seemingly random comments on the topics covered, and
even on each other. At intervals they also read cards with answers to questions
posed to a previous audience, such as, “How did you feel when someone close to
you died?” This may sound more confusing than it actually is; the difference
between the two plots and the commentaries is always clear, though frankly I
found the working-out of the plots more engaging.

As mentioned, this Geva
production is the world premiere of “Informed Consent,” so it is
possible that the play you see will be slightly different from the play I saw. (In
fact, Laufer’s use of audience comments probably ensures
that.) It will have in common, however, a simple but telling set by Michael Raiford; clear, well-paced direction by Sean Daniels; and
an engaging cast, listed simply as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. In addition to taking on miscellaneous
small roles and individual lines, each actor creates a well-defined character: Fajer Al-Kaisi as Gillian’s
husband (Laufer makes him a children’s book author, a
nice touch in a play that begins and ends with the words, “Once upon a time”);
Gilbert Cruz as her academic mentor, who carefully establishes trust with the
Havasupai only to have it betrayed; Tina Fabrique as
the university dean; and Larissa FastHorse as a
member of the Havasupai tribe, who eloquently voices the group’s continual
betrayal by the white man.

“1” is Jessica Wortham as Gillian,
the character who is the hinge on which the play rests. She is completely
convincing as an overconfident scientist sure of the truth, a mother afraid for
her daughter, and finally as a woman facing the consequences of her bad
judgment — and the inevitability of an early and agonizing death. About three-quarters
of the way through the play, Gillian is defending her decision to use the
Havasupai research before an academic board; she begins to hesitate and repeat
herself, and her hands begins to tremble — the first signs of Alzheimer’s. Wortham plays this so well that it is a genuine shock. The
play instantly goes from being interesting and engaging to emotionally
wrenching, and it stays there until the end. There are many more reasons to see
“Informed Consent” than that single scene. But that scene, and Wortham’s performance in it, will stay with me for a long
time.

Geva will present a fundraiser for
Friends of Ganondagan this Friday, March 28, 6:30-10
p.m. at Geva Theatre Center. Tickets are $56 and
include a reception, prologue and “Informed Consent” performance, and a talk-back
panel discussion. Call the box office for more information.

This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2014.