Eclipsed

Periodically, the chattering and gossiping stop, and the women look off stage to see which of them is being summoned.

Otherwise, there is no hint of the men whose vicious civil war has trapped them in the oppressive jungles of Liberia, turning them into ersatz wives cooking, mending, and serving the sexual demands of rebels fighting to depose Liberian strongman Charles Taylor.

In Danai Gurira's Eclipsed, currently onstage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, the four women in this primitive camp have organized themselves into an uneasy household. The oldest captive (simply called Number One and brilliantly portrayed by Bahni Turpin) has taken on the role of dowager. No longer sexually interesting to her captor, she rules over the women's camp, assigning duties and lording it over her woebegone retinue.

Her court consists of the vain, dimwitted and comical Number Three (Edwina Findley), and a recently arrived refugee schoolgirl (Miriam F. Glover) soon destined to become Number Four and a sexual favorite of the rapacious warlord.

Skulking just outside the women's camp and brandishing an oversized automatic weapon, Number Two (Kelly M Jenrette) has given up the illusion of domesticity and joined the men in wreaking havoc, her outsized rage reminiscent of the poor souls in Vietnam for whom innocent civilian and enemy combatant had become one and the same.

"Eclipsed" then becomes a parable of the struggle between two equally malignant choices for women caught in the middle of modern war: either make a self-delusional stab at normalcy, or attempt to carve out a place among the men by cultivating a murderous fanatacism. It would be hard to imagine a more dramatically poignant quartet of characters.

Yet the playwright discards all the natural advantages she has afforded herself when, perhaps in a zeal to teach the audience about Liberia, she allows the minutiae of history to overwhelm the drama. She does this by introducing a fifth character, an expositive element in the form of a city dweller who brings with her an unhelpful set of plot complications, intruding into the tightly focused drama and diffusing its energy.

The "Peace Woman" (Michael Hyatt) from the capital Monrovia arrives in cosmopolitan splendor. She is well dressed, educated and politically savvy. She soon pushes Number One into the background, taking over the attempt to save the soul of the young girl. It is a colossal dramatic error, and the play never really recovers. Much is the pity, for this is a stirring story, produced with stunning design work (Sibyl Wickersheimer, sets; Alex Jaeger, costumes; Christopher Kuhl, lighting) and compelling, powerful performances across the board.

What promised to be an emotionally riveting piece of theater sags under the weight of too much detail. The playwright does make a powerful character of Liberia itself, but her human creations are diminished in the process. Perhaps that was her point. Still, it's a shame.

Eclipsed continues through October 18 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City. For tickets and info call 213.628.2772 or go online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org