Word: aquinos
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Winthrop House production faithfully reproduces Ibsen's disturbing vision, but like any other Hedda Gabler it must stand or fall on the interpretation of the lead role. Fortunately, Amy Aquino delivers a strong and deftly-controlled performance. In her physical expression, especially, she holds Hedda's dichotomies in convincing balance. The cold, intense eyes and queenly carriage reflect her aristocratic upbringing and twisted idealism, while slight gestures--hands rubbed nervously together, a flash of anguish in the face--betray the tensions seething within her. Aquino centers the drama's energy by compressing it, displaying a clenched surface that makes Hedda...
...weak and pedantic husband of convenience whom Hedda has come to despise, David Edelstein delivers a performance of convincing contrast to Aquino. His smaller stature reflects a personality of petty dimensions, and he plays it with the right touch of insecure eagerness and earnest naivete. Tesman's pride is his books, his major tension Lovborg's intellectual competition and his own half-admitted jealousy--a myopic outlook that leaves little room for his smothered wife...
With the exception of Margaret Heilbrun's kindly, effusive Aunt Julia, the other performances also fail to satisfy. Like Hedda, Judge Brack treats those around him with ironically-concealed scorn, matching Hedda's intelligence and selfishness in an intricate struggle for power. But Sam Merrick's wooden caricature blunts Aquino's subtlety. By the end of the play, his languid arrogance and unvarying inflection--each line curved with a sneer--have become thoroughly tiresome. While Ibsen undoubtedly intended Thea Elvsted to be a bland contrast to Hedda, Jennifer Mohr's dull, anxious characterization offers no emotional range or sense...
...case against Aquino is weak, to say the least. The body of the evidence, which was circumstantial at best, came from two former guerrillas who turned state's evidence and then met mysteriously violent deaths...
...unclear whether Mr. Aquino will actually be executed, since the Marcos regime has officially executed only one man, a narcotics dealer, since martial law was imposed, although others have disappeared. But even if Mr. Aquino is not executed, his case is the most striking example of Marcos's blatant attempts to silence, or at least discredit, his political opponents...