OBJECTIONS TO SEX AND VIOLENCE
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Caryl Churchill’s script concerns a would-be terrorist named Jule who is hiding out with her boyfriend, Eric–another radical of sorts. Indicted on minor drug charges, Jule and Eric are suspected of bigger crimes–including a possible bombing–most of which remain unspecified. Churchill contrasts these two with Arthur and Madge, a middle-class married couple. She’s a self-righteous civil servant, appalled by sexuality; he indulges in pornography. “I can’t always manage to dislike what I know is disgusting,” he says. Later he tries to force a bag lady of sorts to fondle him.
Objections is an earnest attempt at depth, but it ends up false; most of what works is due to the actors, who, with few exceptions, rise above the material. Set in England in the 70s, the story unfolds when global terrorism is just beginning. The horror of the Athens airport bombing is still to come. The Sex Pistols are nothing more than a murmur. Changing the world still seems like a reasonable possibility. Most of this information, however, is implied or comes from the program, not the script.
Did they bomb anything or anyone? Would they have bombed if they’d had the chance? Who cares? The real questions are much more mundane: Will Eric leave or stay? Will Phil leave Annie? And once more, who cares?
