| No doubt here. Unlike in Shanley’s play, the man accused of molesting a child in THE HUNT is plainly innocent. This makes him sympathetic, of course, but saps the play of tension until it becomes clear that his innocence may not expel the harm he’s suffered. Goold directs with his customary rigor and technical finesse. He’s particularly good at establishing the primitive anxieties that underscore men’s tribal impulses. In THE HUNT, the rituals of men are socially sanctioned structures that allow them to be tender with each other. But when questions regarding possible sexual deviance arise, these rituals encourage hysteria. It’s interesting that here it’s the men especially who panic where usually, and sadly unsurprisingly, it’s often women (think THE CRUCIBLE for example) who lose their minds over their derepressed, deranged impulses. THE HUNT suggests that a tender, if distant, man hunted, and haunted, by other men is a routine tragedy. It's beneficence that makes him a target. |
