Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden, put on by Montreal’s Altera Vitae Theatre Company at MainLine Theatre, opens on a woman, alone in her beach house in the darkening evening, starting with fear at every sound. She holds a gun in her hand yet she does not appear to be in any imminent danger.

The woman is Paulina Salas, wife of lawyer Gerardo Escobar. When Gerardo arrives, Paulina’s anxiety is calmed. But Gerardo seems exasperated with her ‘carelessness’. He blames her because he was delayed by a flat tire, which she had neglected to replace, and for the missing jack she had given to her mother. If it hadn’t been for the kindly help of a Dr. Roberto Miranda, who drove him home, who knows how long he’d have been on the road. A trivial domestic spat ensues, ending in embraces. Yet an underlying tension lingers between the couple like clouds across the moon that hangs over their terrace.

Mood, meanings, appearances shift continually in Dorfman’s taut moral thriller. Nothing is exactly as it seems at first.

Gerardo has just been nominated president of a committee to investigate the perpetrators of torture—but with the provision no punishment be exacted, a position the ever rational Gerardo supports. Unexpectedly Gerardo’s Good Samaritan, Dr. Miranda, arrives to congratulate him on his new position. A seemingly charming gentleman, he asserts Gerardo has a more balanced, humane approach to the criminals than he could show. Flattered, Gerardo insists the doctor remain the night.

Silent in the background, Paulina has been plunged into horrific memories of fifteen years earlier when, a medical student, she was imprisoned by the secret police, and tortured for months. Although blindfolded during the torture, she is convinced she recognises, through his voice and smell, Dr. Miranda as the sadist who raped her time and again, while playing Schubert’s beautiful quartet, “Death and the Maiden”.

During the night, Paulina exacts her own form of justice, dragging all three into a complex psychological drama. The three of them make counter accusations and confessions. Cracks within Gerardo and Paulina’s marriage widen, and we’re never quite sure where truth lies.

Sam Croitoru’s ambivalent interpretation of the doctor – monster of hypocritical sadism or innocent man trapped in an untenable situation – is effective. His plaintive plea that nothing will appease her, that she will never believe in his innocence, almost wins us over. William Ward flounders somewhat in conveying Gerardo’s conflict between genuine concern for his wife’s mental fragility and his career ambitions, sounding too shrill. Is Paulina seeking true justice, or bent on revenge at any cost? Is her mind unhinged by terrible experiences? Carolyn Fe gives a wrenching, raw performance.

Dorfman avoids a clear-cut resolution. The last scene moves forward in time, offering an ambiguous if chilling resolution. Jesse Corbeil’s direction is sometimes ragged, but keeps a gripping pace. The set and sound by Daniel Legault skilfully evoke isolation. The change in location, using the real audience, is an effective choice.

Note: Altera Vitae Theatre Company always collaborates with a charitable organization that offers services to the community. This time the organization is RIVO, which provides therapeutic services to the survivors of political violence – or torture.

Death and the Maiden plays through Sunday May 24 at MainLine Theatre, 3997 boul. St. Laurent. For showtimes and tickets, call 514.849.3378 or go to www.mainlinetheatre.ca.