'Skin in Flames' — SLAC to premiere provocative new work

Twenty years ago, in a country that is not Vietnam, an American photographer took a photo of a little girl running from a bomb site. Her back was on fire.

His photo became a symbol around the world, a plea for peace. Unfortunately, in this unnamed country where the bombs are no longer falling, there is no real freedom, even today.

Yet tourists are necessary. So the photographer will be invited back to be honored at a party at the Ministry of Tourism. He will be expected to pretend all is well.

Meanwhile, last week or last month, in a country that is not Liberia, a man who works for the United Nations sought out a native woman for sex. He has the ability to grant her everything she needs, including health care for her sick child.

The juxtaposition of these events, which truly could take place on the same day in any number of countries, is at the heart of a new drama, "Skin In Flames." The play was originally written in the Catalan language by Guillem Clua and has been translated into English by D.J. Sanders. Among other prizes, "La Pell en Flames" won the Serra d'Or Critics Award for Best Script for 2005.

"Skin in Flames" will be brought to Utah for the first time next week. A former Utahn, Roger Benington, will direct the Salt Lake Acting Company production.

Cula's script calls for a couple to engage in a sex act on stage. It calls for nudity. It also calls for two couples to act out two different scenes simultaneously, unaware of each other's presence.

Benington likes the complications of the script. In fact, he says, he decided to complicate the staging even more.

He worked with set designer Keven Myhre to create the hotel room where the 80-minute play takes place. "I wanted to make the space less realistic, a very constricted space, with very weird angles, forced angles." Benington imagines the theatergoers will notice right away that the proscenium is like nothing they've viewed a play through before.

As for the oral sex scene, Benington says he thinks he handled it nicely. "I don't go for broke," he says. He presents the sex act stylistically. The language is provocative and disturbing in its own right, Benington explains. He didn't want people in the audience to be so concerned with what they are seeing that they forget to listen to the dialogue.

The most important questions in this play revolve around American responsibility abroad, he notes. He says he can't foster discussion if he alienates the audience.