Two plays by award-winning playwright Catherine Filloux focus on societies torn by war, and how individuals try to live with the trauma in aftermath and/or fight tyrannical power however they can. This book features an introduction by Brandeis University Professor Cynthia E. Cohen.
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By Patrick Harnett-Marshall
Mar 18, 2013
This book contains two very fine plays by Catherine Filloux, both about people living with the aftereffects of genocide. In Dog and Wolf, a Bosnian woman named Jasmina seeks asylum in the United States after the Bosnian Genocide, and in Killing The Boss an American playwright, Eve, tries to teach in a Cambodia governed by the corrupt and despicable Prime Minister Hun Sen. On display in these plays is Catherine Filloux's excellent ability to create subtle and complete characters. Filloux writes for humanitarian purposes, but instead of only reporting she also invents marvelous people who are both devastated and strengthened by the trauma they have faced. Jasmina is the best part of the two plays--she has lived in both Bosnia and the western world, and the real effects of her trauma do not override her intelligence, wit, compassion, or rage. She evades any stereotype and is a delight for any reader. Instead of pitying her suffering, I identified with her strength, and that moved me much... More > more than it would have if the author was less skillful and devoted than she really is. Both plays contain both Bosnians or Cambodians and detached westerners. They also center on a single character (Jasmina or Eve) able to cross between these two worlds. The plays are really meant to bring these two groups together, so that an audience understands the shared humanity between, for instance, an actor in New York City and a Cambodian motodriver. As a New Yorker I know how easy it is to become detached from the rest of the world, and these plays are a needed remedy. Both plays are bold. They play with theatrical conventions by using dream scenes and meta-performance, and they also have lots of fun with language--for example, the way Jasmina's humor is filtered through her not-quite-fluent English is odd and beautiful. Dog and Wolf is the more subtle of the two plays, and Killing the Boss the more broad and thrilling, but both are emotional, passionate, smart, and successful. I recommend these especially to anyone interested in political or world theater, and also to anyone eager to read confident, innovative plays with heart.< Less
Catherine Filloux’s plays Killing the Boss and Dog and Wolf confront a spectrum of grappling questions and harsh realities that deal with our rights as citizens during times of severe injustice. Killing the Boss tells the story of an innovative American playwright who is obsessed with working towards equality as a teacher in an unnamed Southeast Asian country that was recently inflicted with genocide. Once her frustrations lead her to a violent encounter with the country’s prime minister (referred to as ‘the Boss’,) she goes missing, leaving her husband, parents, and an Ambassador to work together in an attempt to uncover her status. Throughout the character’s journeys, the audience is presented with a multitude of compelling perspectives, allowing them to address questions such as what it would take to dismantle a country from a dictator’s ‘one-eyed version of truth,’ to how someone could see human beings in New York as ‘strange creatures,’ and how these perspectives develop and... More > relate to one another. The play also confronts the issue of not only unequal distribution of wealth, but of corruption and unequal distribution of opportunity. Killing the Boss encourages the viewer to address these questions and see international human rights issues from many perspectives. Dog and Wolf confronts many questions in regards to human rights by presenting a relationship between Jasmina, a human rights worker and refugee from Bosnia, and her lawyer, Joseph, who helps her attempt to seek asylum in the United States. As in Killing the Boss, the viewer has the opportunity to experience a plethora of perspectives regarding international human rights issues, the US legal system, and the strength of culture. Dog and Wolf provides the viewer with an intimate look on a woman whose culture is often stereotyped and sculpted into a generalized identity, and emphasizes the necessity of ridding pre-conceived notions and understanding the multi-dimensional nature of culture. Importantly, the same is done with Joseph, allowing the viewer to see the Western world from an exterior perspective. Like the meaning behind the phrase ‘Entre chien et loup’ [between dog and wolf], the play clearly presents the subtleties within the differences, and more importantly, the similarities between Joseph and Jasmina, and how their multi-layered situations are anything but cut-and-dry. Through their discourse and actions, the audience joins both characters as they are forced to confront their pasts. Killing the Boss and Dog and Wolf encourage necessary conversations from their viewers. Both plays present large-scale human rights issues at an intimate scale, allowing the audience to see the implications of issues such as genocide and inequality from a multitude of personal perspectives. Filloux’s Killing the Boss and Dog and Wolf do an excellent job of providing their viewers with knowledge about their core issues, while they simultaneously serve as a launching pad for action and conscious thought in regards to human rights and inequality on a global scale.< Less
Dog and Wolf and Killing the Boss are two beautifully written plays By Catherine Filloux in which characters struggle against authority and corruption, while try to find sense in a confusing world. In the end, although justice may not clearly be seen, the characters find strength through companionship. Killing the Boss is a roller coaster ride of a mystery, where every answer leads to more questions. Eve, the play’s protagonist, is a writer/teacher lost in more ways than one. Her immense passion for the country she loves leads her to risk everything in order to save it from the hands of a cruel tyrant. Meanwhile, her family struggles to understand her actions while attempting to find her. Their story deals with the journey to find ones cultural identity, and the effects our actions have on the ones we love. In Dog and Wolf, the play’s two main characters, Joseph and Jasmina, face many of the same struggles as Eve and her family. Jasmina and Joseph are both haunted by the shadows of... More > their past. Eventually, this leads Jasmina to return to her homeland instead of seeking asylum in the United States. Joseph, her lawyer, follows her in hope of bringing her back. Only when they are able to understand each others pains are they able to trust each other. Their journey shows that although there is much pain and grief in the world, in the end, there is also hope. “KILLING THE BOSS HAS HAUNTED ME EVER SINCE I READ IT. IN SO MANY WAYS, IT REFLECTS THE COMPLEXITY OF HOW GOOD THINGS DON'T ALWAYS TRIUMPH; THE ACHING SORROW WHEN THEY DONT. YOU CAPTURED SO WELL THE TERRIBLE POWER OF EVIL TO DESTROY, AND THE EQUALLY WONDERFUL/TERRIBLE POWER OF THE PEOPLE CAUGHT IN AMBIGUOUS SITUATIONS TO SALVAGE WHAT THEY CAN, AND STILL LIVE TO TRY AGAIN. THAT WHOLE EXPERIENCE SHINES IN MY MIND LIKE A LANTERN OF LIGHT IN A DARK TIME.” Rosemary Knower< Less
In Dog and Wolf, Catherine Filloux leads us on a journey that is both magical and uplifting, and at the same time disheartening and brutal. The play gives voice to Jasmina, a Bosnian woman who has suffered a crushing series of losses from years of war and brutality. I usually don't take this kind of theatrical journey, and instead find other ways to bear witness to the ruthlessness of our times, but Filloux has found a way to help us look at the vagaries of human life and at the beauty and wretchedness that our species creates. I am grateful to her for that, and for the impact the play had on me. Dog and Wolf plays around with power relations in irreverent, almost comically unexpected ways. Filloux could have portrayed the immigration lawyer, Joseph, for instance, and his client Jasmina, in characteristically fixed roles in order to make a point, and more easily identify who is abusing whom. But the dialogue in this play is more confusing than that, and harder to pin down as a result.... More > I was on edge as Jasmina would not play the acquiescent role I thought would work best for her. But nothing, it turns out, is one way or the another in this play. Jasmina and Joseph remind us that the same human beings who tear each other apart, are also capable of writing something as beautiful as Dog and Wolf. That not only helps me look longer at the things Filloux points to, but to be more intimate, and hopeful, with all that is going on in the world. It is best to look around us, as Filloux so artfully demonstrates, with a creative and accepting eye.< Less
I read Dog and Wolf & Killing the Boss, two short plays by Catherine Filloux, shortly after graduating from college, where I spent my senior year exploring the connection between the arts and peacebuilding. Both plays perfectly embody this relationship, as they inform about injustice and inspire action, and create a safe place of truth-telling and taking responsibility. Dog and Wolf is about Jasmina, a Bosnian woman who, after witnessing and teaching about genocide, seeks asylum in the United States. She does this with the help of Joseph, her physically disabled, often emotionally insensitive, lawyer. When Jasmina goes missing after her trial however, we see the breakdown of physical and emotional barriers, as Joseph travels to her homeland to find her. In this place so unfamiliar to most of us, we witness Jasmina confront her past and learn what it means to refuse becoming a victim. We also begin to understand the harsh realities of seeking asylum in the United States, and the... More > consequences of both speaking out and remaining silent after mass human rights atrocities. Killing the Boss, with similar themes, tells of the struggle and potential repercussion of confronting those in power. When Eve, an American playwright not afraid to state what is officially silenced, violently confronts a Southeast Asian Prime Minister about a lack of opportunities for his people, we as an audience question the utility of rage and revenge in post-conflict societies. A one-act play, Killing the Boss is a quick yet suspenseful read that also lets us explore the role of outsiders in such societies, and the effects of our choices on those we love. Both plays draw domestic attention to international human rights abuses, as well as give life to memories and voices to the dead. Although about heavy topics, they are filled with wit and humor, as well as an extremely well developed, multi-dimensional cast. This allows the reader to learn about and grapple with the issues, relate to the characters, and feel both empowered and entertained.< Less
