Word: comics
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Comic Creators...
...celebrated Simon wit constantly bubbles forth, especially during a sub-plot that involves the hero's brother and the heroine's best girlfriend. In contrast to the hasty marriage of the principals, this couple never quite gets around to having an affair, despite persistent efforts. But even this comic relief contains solemn undertones; both would-be adulterers carry wounds that neither can successfully hide from the other...
...even exorcising, a personal anguish, he fails to balance pathos and humor as skillfully as he might have. In the second act, when the marriage begins to show signs of strain, an affair between Leo and Faye abruptly surfaces in an obvious attempt to give the play a little comic relief. This humorous interlude begins promisingly: Leo's attempts to calm the skittish Faye and disentangle her from a toga-style bed-sheet provide the most hysterical moments in Chapter Two. But this farcical scene turns solemn, too. Faye admits she doesn't really want to have an affair...
...fare much better. Herbert Edelman, no stranger to Simon's work--he appeared most recently as Walter Matthau's brother in the movie California Suite--handles Leo's comic scenes with expertise, though he tends to rush through his serious speeches. Only Jerry Orbach is completely and consistently excellent, especially in his physical gestures. At one point, he strokes his dead wife's picture as tenderly as if he were touching the woman herself--then jerks his hand away to hide the private gesture from his brother. Whether indulging in outrageous facial clowning, or making his voice crack with pain...
...power of Simon's writing and Orbach's acting help the play transcend its excessive length and half its cast. Chapter Two is not a funny play; it is a fundamentally somber play with some funny lines. The man so often heralded as America's greatest comic playwright has now chosen not to make us laugh at human pain this time. With Chapter Two, Simon puts the hurts people inflict on each other center-stage, instead of allowing us an indirect glimpse through snappy one-liners...