Gustav was Tekla’s first husband, whom Tekla dumped after she met Adi at this very hotel. Gustav planned his encounter with Adi to exact his revenge on the both of them. Rather than an Iago-like conniver, or a Voldemort-like brute, Schreiber seems to portray Gustav like a poker player, trying to hide both his plans and his hurt.
Gustav is older than Tekla, met her when she was still living with her parents, and he set about to mold her, until she broke away from his control. Gustav now sees Tekla as repeating the relationship, in reverse, with the younger Adi. Until Gustav convinces him otherwise, Adi believes that his marriage is one of equals. Gustav says that this isn’t so; that this is never so: “Equals aren’t attracted to each other. We’re humans. What we’re drawn toward is power and weakness, not equality. Some of us long to wield power, some of us long to serve the powerful.” It’s one of the several assertions that, even if you find dubious, make the intellectually stimulating.
“Creditors” is running at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theater through June 18 in repertory with Hannah Moscovitch’s Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes which is about a middle aged man’s affair with his 19-year-old student; it’s easy to see that the two productions comment on one another. They also will both wind up as Audible audiobooks, which seems an especially good platform for “Creditors,” given how toned down and talky that first scene between the two men, which is the longest.
Still, I sat in the front row of the Minetta Lane Theater, where I noticed a meticulousness to the design. Smith is wearing black pants that are ever-so-slightly flecked with white paint – which makes sense, because he’s a painter. He is also wearing an earring, which made me stop and wonder. Isn’t this production still set in 19th century Sweden? Did men wear earrings then? In the third scene between Gustav and Telka, there is a moment – that’s in the original script – when Telka loses one of her earrings, and Gustav picks it up, gently puts it back on her, and says “You still wear these,” visibly moved. They were his gift to her. A whole conversation about it follows; does Adi know they were his gift? This is when I thought again of Adi’s earring, which I thought resembled one of Telka’s. Is this the production’s extremely subtle way of demonstrating the power dynamic that Gustav claimed – did Adi get his earring (or at least the idea to wear it) from (the stronger) Telka, just as Telka got her earrings from (the stronger) Gustav?
Creditors
Audible’s Minette Lane Theater through June 18
In repertory with Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes
Running time: 85 minutes no intermission
Tickets: $160 – $299
HOWEVER: 25 percent of the tickets will be available day-of for $35, via both TodayTix and in person at the box office.
Written by August Strindberg in a new version by Jen Silverman
Directed by Ian Rickson
Scenic design by Brett J Banakis and Christine Jones, costume design by Asta Bennie Hostetter, lighting design by Isabella Byrd, sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman
Cast: Liev Schreiber, Maggie Siff, Justice Smith
