Lunatic 19’s
Finborough Theatre London

LUNATIC 19’s sets out to be a harrowing tale of the brutal deportation of supposed non-nationals from the US to Mexico. But as it progresses its purpose become increasingly obtuse.

US playwright Tegan McLeod’s two-hander centres on alleged illegal immigrant Gracie and Alec, the young man whose job it is to arrest her and transport her to Mexico.

At the story’s beginning, Gracie is holed up in a Kentucky hospital following a nasty car accident. She’s visited by Alec, who though she’s in pain and in a neck brace, handcuffs and arrests her and then takes her to his transit van for the journey.

Yet none of what follows rings true. The idea that Alec would be trusted by the authorities to drive and guard deportees on his own seems unlikely and, even though there may be a suggestion that Alec has other passengers, they never impinge on the action.

So all we see is one young man driving one young woman for nearly 2,000 miles and, of course, forming a relationship — hardly surprising, given that their intimacy involves Alec pulling the handcuffed Gracie’s clothes down so that she can pee and, as their roles reverse, her doing much the same for him.

Gracie’s ability to overpower this fit young man — as she eventually does— stretches credulity, given that she is still in recovery from serious injury and, as it turns out, miscarrying a pregnancy. When she becomes arbitrarily and incomprehensibly obsessed with the number 19, all hope of a meaningful drama is lost.

The dialogue has pace and director Jonathan Martin keeps the action fluid, while Gabriela Garcia gives a measured performance as Gracie and Devon Anderson endeavours to show the softer side of hard-man Alec.

The message is that Gracie has a rough ride. But this is not enough — the abuse and deportation of migrants, specifically in this case US hostility to Mexico and Mexicans, is a serious subject and a grotesque stain on the collective conscience.

Any play that purports to tackle a matter of such current significance has a responsibility to inform, enlighten and generally mobilise its audience, not just dwell on an increasingly fabricated misery in a road trip that ultimately loses direction.

Runs until August 3, box office: finboroughtheatre.co.uk.