Word: bernick
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Thomas Bernick Dearborn, Mich...
...humor, lightening up a script that tends toward the didactic. The Pillars of Society concerns one seemingly model family whose patriarch must admit to his actual deceit when the family's "black sheep" return home to clear their own names. The title refers to this false moral leader. Karsten Bernick, and his business cohorts, who pursue personal profits under the banner of working for the common good. They are supported by their equally hypocritical wives, members of an aid society for fallen women who are more dedicated to scandal gossip than to charity...
Jamie Hanes, as Bernick portrays a wonderfully harried community leader. He is a real caught in a maze of his own design, constantly spouting maxims and proclaiming his own worth. Hanes transforms the genuinely nasty and selfish fellow into one worthy of sympathy by conveying poor Bernick's fear as his fabricated morality collapses...
...rest of the cast uniformly sustains this high energy level Gregg Lachow, as Johan Toennesen, Lona's half-brother, and Paul Warner as Bernick's model son Olaf, balance admirably between humor and a straight interpretation. Lachow conveys the wounded dignity of Bernick's betrayed friend without slipping into melodrama...
...however, ingenuity aids the entire production: One white tile and glass room evokes the sterility of the ladies aid society. The adjacent office's blue floor and low ceiling immediately creates a different space, although both "rooms" are quite small and are not separated by real barriers. In addition, Bernick's office adds a touch of humor. He reachs his desk by a ladder and descends by means of a fireman's pole--a constant reminder of levity which moderates several serious scenes, most notably one potentially awkward encounter between Bernick and his foreman Aune (Mark Driscoll...