When you enter the lobby of Lookingglass Theater to see the play “Trust” which details the rape of a 14 year old girl by an internet pedophile, you will see a table set up by Rape Victim Advocates to provide information and support after the show. The startling statistics they provide, including the fact that 13 percent of teenagers reported receiving an unwanted sexual solicitation online each year and that one in three children admit they considered meeting face to face with someone they met on the internet indicate what an important cautionary message this play is trying to convey.
Co- writers David Schwimmer and Andy Bellin (co-directed by Schwimmer and Heidi Stillman) all did a great job of bringing the script to the stage, which is also now being completed as a feature film starring Clive Owen.
I was extremely impressed by the use of photography and video screens to dress the stage. A picture really is worth a thousand words when you see the safe, colorful and intimate confines of a girl’s upper middle class bedroom change to depict the various portions of the rape kit used to examine her in the hospital.
I also liked the way the constantly changing background images of familiar locales, including O’Hare airport, Old Orchard shopping mall, and other recognizable locations give the play a modern immediacy. The screen of her brand new Mac Pro is shown as she receives instant messages from the predator online, which effectively convey the fast paced world we live in today, that looks so safe, warm and cozy but in actuality is exposing young people to far more stimulation and encroachments on their privacy and safety than a parent would like to admit.
Allison Torem gives a strong and subtly nuanced performance portraying Annie, the slightly awkward, sensitive, once spunky soccer-playing child who is seduced bit by bit and ultimately has difficulty even realizing that she was raped by a serial pedophile.
Phillip R. Smith, who plays her father Will also gives a strong performance culminating in his anguished, gut wrenching cry of “Something… happened!” to his son returning from college unaware of what has transpired. Smith’s characters’ disintegration into anger and depression displays sharply how parents and eventually the whole family unit are slowly destroyed by a crime like this. Also how the family unit and even investigators burned out by the ultimately futile search- as is true in many cases- for the criminal and the resulting extension of feelings of corrosive guilt to everyone involved.
“Trust” is an important play, not just for young people and their parents who need to be reminded how easily this kind of crime can occur but also for anyone who has been the victim of a sex crime or molestation because it does a wonderful job of showing that rape is rape, even if you were manipulated into participating in the crime. Perhaps, especially so, because the play demonstrates so effectively that the feeling of “I allowed this… it was my fault.” is an insidious virus given by the perpetrator that causes a victim and their family to spiral downward into dark prisons of guilt and accusation long after the crime has been committed.
Kudos to David Schwimmer, a long standing proponent of Rape Advocacy for using his star power and time and effort to bring attention and illumination to such an important and difficult issue. In fact, Lookingglass’ production of “Trust” has teamed up with the Rape Victim Advocates in which a member will be available after each performance to inform those interested on sexual crime prevention and coping. For more information on their wonderful organization, visit www.rapevictimadvocate.org.
For many years I have written about and feared the upcoming tsunami of child molestation and rape that the internet has made possible to pedophiles and am very impressed that David Schwimmer has had the guts to go out on a limb and create a vehicle to convey this. I highly recommend seeing “Trust” and hope that in time it will become required viewing for grade school students aged 11 and up. “Trust” is playing at Lookingglass Theatre through April 25th.
