Theater at Zero Arrow Street
Timely though this production may be, now that the cinematic window has of- ficially opened on the subject of America’s recent past, the flight-recorder drama Charlie Victor Romeo can at least claim the dubious benefit of foresight: it was actually first penned and produced in New York City in 1999. Some may say this adds a layer of unsettling prescience to the story, but in truth, the story could hardly be more unsettling in its own right, focusing as it does on the actual transcripts of six black-box recordings from real-life airline disasters. Far from resorting to the easy conventions of shock value and cheap melodrama, however, this empathetic “performance documentary” won the approval of audiences and aviators alike during its initial sold-out run. The show enjoys a simple but emotionally devastating treatment for its New England debut, which is jointly produced by the A.R.T. and CRASHarts at the Zero Arrow Theatre in Harvard Square through May 28.
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