Word: gerber
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Radioactive wastes are the current gloomy spectre, but all types of hazardous wastes may haunt officials in the future. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently considering regulations to change waste disposal procedures. Should the regulations be implemented, says Carl Gerber of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, the number of wastes defined as "hazardous" will expand. The proposed EPA rules, says Coddington, are "written with an industrial setting in mind." The typical industry, he says, deals with tens of thousand of gallons of only a few hazardous materials. "But in a health laboratory," he continues...
...sums up the Loeb's production of The Children's Hour. Why, with a professional visiting director who presumably had her pick of Harvard actors, does the production leave the viewer so detached? Part of the answer undoubtedly rests with Lillian Hellman's somewhat dated play, and director Ella Gerber's unwillingness to delete certain overwritten scenes and lines. But the real and distirbing problem lies with the actors, who display about as much conviction and sinceretiy as marionettes...
...overly shrill and theatrical, Aquino emanates deliberate maliciousness in the pivotal scene with Martha, and her sharp jabbing at her embroidery all the while is a nice touch. Aquino even manages to avoid looking ridiculous in the last scene, where she must indulge in hysterics over Martha's death. Gerber would have done well to cut that last scene, for it drags on and on while recriminations...
VISITING DIRECTOR Ella Gerber has stayed Hellman's more searing moments with expert clarity, and has given the production a professional rhythm. The actors, however mechanically they drone their lines, pick up on cues and set the swift pace essential for building and maintaining tension. Gerber displays a deft hand for creating effective stage pictures. When Mary extorts the gossip from her schoolmates that she will use to tar Karen and Martha, Gerber places her high above them on a ladder, smiling evilly down on the hapless girls. Again, during the scene of Mary's accusation, Gerber stands the teachers...
However, if Gerber merits praise for her professional competence, she also deserves blame for failing to coax the actors into displaying any sincere emotions. The annoyingly overarticulated speech and tightly disciplined movements suggests relentless drilling, which has paid off in unremittingly mechanical deliveries. Nor do most of the actors bother to vary their volume or pitch effectively, even in critical scenes...