I keep thinking about a play I saw performed nearly a month ago, at the OC-Centric New Play Festival. It is called Night Moths on the Wing, and it was written by Kimberly Kalaja, a playwright originally from California but now based in New York.
The plot revolves around a prisoner of war and his guards and interrogators, and it does contain surprise twists, and funny moments as well as frightening ones, but it’s not the plot that I keep thinking about. It’s the way the play explores questions of loyalty and trust, and of deceit and manipulation.
Maybe it’s because those are the themes being so relentlessly thrust upon us during this election season. Every day there are new articles written and discussed concerning whether or not the candidates are worthy of voters’ trust, and what they may or may not have lied about and why.
Through dialogue that is by turns amusing and arresting, Kalaja demonstrates how easily and how thoroughly people can mislead each other, and how vehemently they can hold on to beliefs they’ve been fooled into having. The play is a compact and compelling examination of two fundamental questions: who is trustworthy, and what is true.
They are questions that we all could stand to examine a bit more closely, and works of art such as this play can aid in that process. It has certainly had that effect on me.
Wherever you are, if you have the opportunity to see Night Moths on the Wing, or anything by the eloquent and thought-provoking Kimberly Kalaja, I recommend you take advantage of it.
