Word: foil
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...notice—his acting was so genuine that it was impossible to believe he was acting at all. The performance by Mary E. Birnbaum ’07 of the mousy Mrs. Elvsted was an impressive escalation from uncertainty through fear to panic and served as an excellent foil for Hedda’s ruthlessness. Jess R. Burkle ’06 as Judge Brack was the epitome of gravel-voiced sleaze, and the occasions on which he allowed the audience glimpses of his inner comedian highlighted the subtle but crucial thread of humor in the play. Megan...
...interesting interpretation: Williams describes Stanley as a “gaudy seed-bearer” neanderthal, but Nicholas’ Stanley is surprisingly sassy and alert. There’s never a moment here when Stanley doesn’t have the upper hand against his delicate foil, Blanche (Caroline E. Jackson ’06), and that’s an engaging way for him to play those exchanges...
...cast, outside of Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and their foil, a player (Mike B. Hoagland ’07), is more or less restricted to prop status; none of them talk with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern for long enough to make an impression. Yet all of the actors give the sense that there are unspoken depths to their characters—a crucial skill, considering that their characters have far more space to themselves in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Polonius (Tim M. Marrinan ’06) is suitably obsequious, Ophelia (Andrea M. Spillmann ’07) is weepy when weepiness...
...Year's Eve. Bush officials respond that the 1999 plot was undone more by luck than by executive action; an immigration agent blocked a suspicious man from crossing the border with British Columbia. In any case, no one denies that it would have required good fortune to foil the 9/11 plot...
...lore has it that to foil concealed recording devices, Massino went so far as to order his men never to utter his name during a conversation and instead to touch one of their ears to indicate Big Joey. It was a bit of theater he borrowed from Gigante, whose cronies used to tap their chin to signify their boss. The Bonannos' Old-World code of discipline was such that until recently not a single "made guy" (ranking gang member) had ever cooperated with law enforcers. As the other bosses bunked down in prison, that helped the Bonannos become...