On one hand, we have a world of symphonies, books, travel and dinner parties full of well-dressed people making witty conversation.
On the other, we have a world of those who clean the symphony halls, bind the books, haul the travelers' bags and wash the diners' dishes.
The two worlds collide in Wallace Shawn's "The Fever," which Rogue Theatre opened last weekend.
The premise of the one-man play, honestly and convincingly performed by Joseph McGrath, is how those in the first world, in good conscience, can allow the poverty and lack of privilege endured by those in the other world to continue.
It's a heavy load of guilt in this 90-minute, no-intermission play.
Screaming-liberal guilt. The character, like writer/actor Shawn, is an aesthete. He loves the arts, beautiful things, wonderful food. Those things take money.
But he also is aware of how unjust it all is.
So, how to reconcile the fact that he is privileged and others aren't? And should he be doing something about it, such as, say, give all his money away to the beggar woman on the street?
It's a conundrum.
The nameless man in the play has traveled to a country where civil war rages. On the morning that a prisoner is to be executed, our man is looking out his hotel window and musing about it when he is gripped with a terrible illness.
He runs to the bathroom, vomits and becomes delirious.
And in his delirium, he wrestles with being a have when there are so many have-nots. He argues with himself. He remembers glorious moments with vivid colors and sublime conversation. He remembers being confronted with despair and poverty.
And he questions what his responsibility is to others. He wonders if he can enjoy staying at a fine hotel when someone who could never afford to stay there must clean his toilet. Then, he argues, it's silly to feel the need to give all his possessions away.
"The Fever" has the potential to become very tiresome, really.
But it doesn't. Credit Shawn's lucid, vivid writing for that. And the production, directed by Cynthia Meier, never becomes too earnest, too over-the-top with emotions or the guilt.
"The Fever" isn't for everyone. No solutions to the problems raised are offered. But if discussion after a play is your forte, this is one to see. It poses questions and prompts talk.
And if you can't give all your money to the poor, maybe, at least, you can talk about what might be done to make the world a more just place.
β Rogue Theatre's production of Wallace Shawn's "The Fever," starring Joseph McGrath and directed by Cynthia Meier, is 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Jan. 22.
Friday performances take place at the Center for Expressive Arts, 3838 E. Fort Lowell Road; Saturdays at the Mat Bevel Institute, 530 N. Stone Ave.; and Sundays at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St. Tickets are $17. Call 326-7354 for reservations and more information.
