| Nottage's "Sweat" on the page. | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 09:45 am EDT 07/01/17 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 09:44 am EDT 07/01/17 | |
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| Much has been made of the chasm between the Isherwood rave and the Brantley reservations (worth reading his review again, and the comments posted on line, which 2 - 1 agree with him.) The play on the page offers more evidence of why this Pulitzer winner isn't entirely satisfying for everyone. The intentions are so powerfully relevant, it's uncomfortable (to me, full disclosure) to find anything in this script lacking. Yet it's so diffused, seemingly so concerned with fair representation -- spreading around its unheard points of view, giving the invisible theatrical voices -- it feels like a generic wash of working class anxiety. Yes, there's a story, even a small mystery to be solved, or at least revealed, about simmering rage and exploding violence that results. But its curiously flat, its sociological observations -- which are almost like 4th wall breaking annotations rather than earned epiphany-driven soliloquies -- baldly announced. When people give their life histories in a bar, the characters' histories themselves need to earn the stage time, not just their class's plight. This is a play to root for, for its purpose and time capsule worthy portraits. It has craft and passion. It just doesn't feel -- and this is hard to say -- fresh or immediate. One can imagine that its life is long, that colleges and small companies will be drawn to its substantial roles for women -- and to be fair, these are women not seen on the stage often enough. I remember the Isherwood review. It was the play I couldn't wait to arrive. I open it, and want it to be great. Perhaps my expectation is the problem. | |
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