Like most speculative fiction (and every original Star Trek episode), Ezekiel’s Wheel is a fable: a story whose moral applies to circumstances other than those being described. Determining whether that moral is “Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” or “You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything,” or even “We have met the enemy and he is us” is one of the many pleasures of MPAACT’s world premiere of Addae Moon’s play.
Ezekiel’s Wheel Through 3/5: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln, greenhousetheater.org, $34-$37
“Pleasure” might seem an odd descriptor for the piece, whose dystopian premise is that a conflagration has left Georgia divided into The Province, a 1984-style dictatorship, and the Insurgents, who maintain the customs and beliefs of a past The Province denies ever existed. Those beliefs include faith in prophecy by any person born with a caul over his face, including our titular character.
To say more about the plot would spoil the fun, but director Lauren “LL” Lundy manages to create a world well worth immersing yourself in. Her casting is impeccable: the evil Chancellor is portrayed by Andrew Malone with a creepy bonhomie featuring a Mao-like smile that has nothing to do with good humor. As Baba, the father of Ezekiel and his unprophetic brother Andrew, Darren Jones embodies all the earned wisdom of a lifetime, while Noelle Klyce as the sergeant who keeps him captive beautifully conveys the ambivalence of every prison guard who is still a human being. Jordan Gleaves, as the prophet who doesn’t understand his own visions, and Tamarus Harvell, as the brother who doesn’t believe them until it’s too late, round out the excellent cast.