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| MANKIND Today | |
| Posted by: sergius 06:07 pm EST 01/07/18 | |
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| I liked BOOTCANDY and BARBECUE very much. They were disjointed but funny in a spirited, anarchic way. And because they felt rooted in some presumably lived experience of O'Hara's, the scathing satire was affectionate as well. MANKIND, however, is a pontifical satire; it's outlandish but it's a bore because it's more smug--and smugly superior--than it is funny. Its humor, such as it is, is mostly didactic and, because of this, it grows tiresome fast. MANKIND wants very badly to be provocative, but it's intellectually banal. Every tired and forcibly outrageous turn lands with a thud. In all, one of the most disappointing new plays in some time. | |
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| Would Mankind have been better with another director? | |
| Posted by: gad90210 08:25 pm EST 01/07/18 | |
| In reply to: MANKIND Today - sergius 06:07 pm EST 01/07/18 | |
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| I haven't seen this yet, but I've seen Bootycandy and Barbecue. After each one I thought that O'Hara shouldn't be directing his own works. I think he needs someone to help him cut the fat. But in the case of Mankind, it sounds as if the problems are inherent in the writing. | |
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| re: Would Mankind have been better with another director? | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 11:21 pm EST 01/07/18 | |
| In reply to: Would Mankind have been better with another director? - gad90210 08:25 pm EST 01/07/18 | |
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| I love "Bootycandy" and I enjoyed "Barbecue", but Others can't write forward action. His best plays are collages. With "Mankind", he's trying to write a linear narrative, but he doesn't have the skills for it. | |
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| re: Would Mankind have been better with another director? | |
| Posted by: jon_sense 09:34 pm EST 01/07/18 | |
| In reply to: Would Mankind have been better with another director? - gad90210 08:25 pm EST 01/07/18 | |
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| O'Hara could use a dramaturg he trusts, but his productions are vividly galvanizing. | |
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| re: Would Mankind have been better with another director? | |
| Posted by: sergius 08:34 pm EST 01/07/18 | |
| In reply to: Would Mankind have been better with another director? - gad90210 08:25 pm EST 01/07/18 | |
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| It's just a bad play, I think. Hard to imagine a different director could make it work. | |
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| re: MANKIND Today | |
| Posted by: jjhbb340 07:28 pm EST 01/07/18 | |
| In reply to: MANKIND Today - sergius 06:07 pm EST 01/07/18 | |
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| My friend and I had enjoyed Barbecue and I thought Bobby Moreno was wonderful in Fulfillment Center at MTC,so we were eager to see this. We were really disappointed too-this play was just inane. We felt embarrassed for all the actors and decided to leave at intermission after the ludicrous first act finale. I'm a lapsed Catholic,but this play would bore insult anyone's intelligence in my opinion. Really awful! | |
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| re: MANKIND Today | |
| Posted by: den 07:47 pm EST 01/07/18 | |
| In reply to: re: MANKIND Today - jjhbb340 07:28 pm EST 01/07/18 | |
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| I saw it today too (as it turns out, after Mass at St Pat's). I wasn't offended by it, as a Catholic-- it's satire, after all -- and it loses all sense of direction and focus in the second act. But I continue to be impressed by O'Hara's audaciousness. He takes chances, some of which work, and some of which do, indeed, land with a thud. This is not as strong as Booty Candy or Barbeque, but still, I'm glad I saw it. I'll see anything by this playwright. An active imagination, and definitely someone to watch. | |
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