James Wilson takes a look at Lambs to Slaughter from The Negro Ensemble at Cherry Lane Theatre:
The centerpiece of Romello Huins's set design for Lambs to Slaughter, Khalil Kain's new play presented by the Negro Ensemble Company at the Cherry Lane Theatre, is a large, circular wall clock. The hands are resolutely frozen at 9:30–or is that 5:45? After all, it's nearly impossible to distinguish between the big hand and the little one. Accordingly, time plays cruel tricks on the characters, who are coping with the murder of a young African American man. At various points, they want to run away from time, move backward within it, and find comfort in its inevitability and orderliness. In any case, there seems to be no relief from, as one character describes, "Pain so great that it would stop time." |
