Duerrenmatt's The Visit  poses moral questions

Friedrich Duerrenmatt's The Visit  is a magnum opus which senior Tommy Kreigsman's production displays in all its brilliance. Oberlin Student Theater Association presents this didactic play at Jones Field House this weekend.

The play is set in the little German town of Guellen during a period of economic decline when it seems the rest of the country is prospering. The factories have shut down, the downtown is schlock. The town residents feel only self-pity for their plight until it is revealed that Claire Zachanassian, played by senior Sarah Lariviere, a long-vacated Guellener who moved on to become a millionairess, will be visiting the town. The mayor, first-year Zach Fine, and townspeople think she is their saving grace, and they try to get her old high school sweetheart, sophomore Corey Stoll, to help them plan to infuse the town with capital. Unbeknownst to them, Ill, her high school sweetheart, is the last one Claire wants to hear from.

Madame Zachanassian comes to town and announces to the mayor and his disciples that she'll give the town $10 million - five for the town and five for its residents - provided that "justice is done." The mayor asks what she means, and Zachanassian explains. She tells of becoming pregnant at 17 years old. She filed a paternity suit against Ill, claiming he was the father, but he lied under oath and paid two men to corroborate. The court decided that he was not the father.

Zachanassian couldn't handle the shame Guellen put on her shoulders and was forced to flee and become a prostitute. Ill admits he lied, and Claire bitterly explains how his actions forced her into a depraved lifestyle. Her life goal is to get justice. Claire tells everyone she'll only give the $10 million if the town kills Ill. Zachanassian tells him that he got to choose his life, and hers was chosen for her.

The Visit  concerns the moral dilemma faced by the townspeople of Guellen with this proposition. At first, the townspeople seem to totally dismiss the proposition. But Ill becomes scared when he sees everyone wearing new shoes and buying better cigarettes from his general store - on credit. He fears economic prosperity signals his doom. He runs to the police; they tell him Madame Zachanassian's proposal was only a joke and not to worry. Then he sees that the policeman too is wearing new shoes.

Eventually, the mayor tells Ill he should just kill himself for the betterment of the town. Ill refuses. The Visit  illustrates the consorted hypocrisy money can create. The final scene beautifully climaxes this sense of hypocrisy, and the audience is left indignant.

Every element of Kreigsman's production contributes to the theme. The acting is vibrant and flawless. The townspeoples's self-righteousness makes their hypocrisy incomprehensibly blunt. Sarah Lariviere's acting and manner vividly portray Zachanassian as disheveled and rotten to the core; her emetically unsightly costume puts Claire over the top.

The set design is very '90s, but it doesn't detract from the play - it only contributes. There are three screens that project the name of the setting along with an appropriate, inquisitive picture. Jones Field House even contributes to the production. It adds an inexplicable, vacuous, urgent aura to the play. Every fiber of The Visit  is a well-thought, well-worked, profound piece of beauty.

The Visit  will be performed tonight, Saturday and Sunday at. 8 p.m. Jones Field House. Tickets are $2 at Wilder Information Desk and $1 more at the door.