Sally Clawson as the desperate detainee with a sick baby.

Man’s inhumanity to man is a common theme in theatre. But rarely is it realized with such devastating brutality as in Crowded Fire’s production of Slow Falling Bird by Christine Evans. Set in an immigration detention center, there is misery aplenty for all parties.

Two guards—a good cop/bad cop team at Woomera Immigration Detention Centre in Australia—are exceedingly bored, boozing it up at night, tending to prisoners (I mean immigrants awaiting asylum) and hangovers during the day. The impoverished detainees are bored too… as well as hungry, confused, and frightened. Shared humanity hardly suffices to bond, much less redeem, these unnatural enemies. The play’s title should definitely be plural as it well describes ALL the characters in this nightmarish lose-lose scenario.

Playwright Evans writes from the gut with a darkly gritty worldview. Her characters are pawns in a global “game” of invisible borders and barren territories, where veritably all participants are defeated before they begin. Even the winners are tainted with blood and guilt. And Evans wisely fleshes out the humanity of all her characters, good and bad, sexual and cultural, victim and bully. Her skillful use of language creates vivid metaphors, though she’s perhaps somewhat too heavy-handed with the onslaught of avian images. She brilliantly utilizes the moon-like terrain of the Outback—“the end of the earth, the asshole of nowhere”—to parallel the inhospitable geography of politics, where cruelty is the path of least resistance. Ultimately, she has certainly written one of the most depressing plays in the lexicon of American theatre, made worse by its undeniable reality.

The entire cast works together seamlessly in a terrific ensemble. Michael Storm stars as the abusive guard—simultaneously sexually frustrated, somewhat psychotic, and kinda hot—in an amazingly well-textured performance. Smart and pretty Cassie Beck renders a despondent housewife, desperate for children yet a certifiably awful candidate for motherhood. Sally Clawson, as a desperate detainee with a sick baby, tempers ferociousness with helplessness in her superbly balanced characterization. And Dan Wolf clearly demonstrates the inevitable downward progression of even the most humane person in inhumane circumstances.

Director Rebecca Novick embraces challenge with yet another multi-layered, superlatively textured script and cast. She juggles the play’s many mysteries and perspectives, communicating it all with crystal clarity. The set design by Joel Franquist is abstractly geometric, suggesting a multitude of locations. Heather Basarab’s lighting succinctly conveys the ever-changing moods, times of day, and/or levels of reality. And the costumes by Bree Hylkema are kept simple, yet always effective.

Slow Falling Bird takes the audience beyond depression into downright despair. Its intensity relentlessly grows to a bitter-not-too-sweet conclusion. Though a major downer, audiences will have to appreciate the powerful writing, acting, directing, and more. Double your anti-depressants and check it out.

Slow Falling Bird runs until Aug. 20 at the EXIT on Taylor, 277 Taylor Street. Tickets ($18-$25) are available by calling 675-5995 or go to www.crowdedfire.org.