The Fears: Triggers and Trauma in a Safe Space

In his theater production debut, Steven Soderburgh brings us Emma Sheanshang’s The Fears, performed off-Broadway at the Pershing Square Signature Theater. On trend, this ensemble work takes place in a room, with a window, and with hangings of the Buddha; this is a safe zone for the psychically injured, akin to a consciousness raising group space. A lively cast of characters is led by a neo-hippie-ish facilitator to deal with their triggers. The title The Fears made me think of the ancient Greek play, The Furies, which externalized the emotional explosions thin-skinned types experience in volatile families—think of the House of Atreus alone where sons are served up to fathers for dinner. Of course, without calling the characters trauma survivors. The personae in The Fears form something of a fiery family itself, --and that window: it faces onto a courtyard with a lot of commotion outside. Everyone has issues.

Still, where is anyone safe from trauma? Each character, from Maia (Maddie Corman), the leader who keeps taking room tone, to Suzanne (Robyn Peterson) who offers solace in snacks of crispy seaweed, to bossy Rosa (Natalie Woolams-Torres), to exasperating Fiz  (Mehran Khaghani), and Katie (Jess Gabor), a most fragile Goth girl, gets a big sorry past, as do the new girl, Thea (Kerry Bishe) and her boyfriend. She just happens to be living with Mark (Carl Hendrick Louis). Director Dan Algrant keeps the tirades and banter flowing.

Good theater can cover life writ large, and people in fact endure horrific scenarios. The Fears offers a window into the loud eruptions revealing and maybe protesting abuse, if we are too sensitive or hurt to do what people always did: get over it.