Word: grosse
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...that are aggravated by Ben's reappearance. Ben's hardworking and optimistic father, Pat, seems thoroughly convinced that if everyone could just put aside their cares over a plate of pasta and a rousing rendition of "La Tarantella," things would work out fine. But although these may seem like gross generalizations--the insecure teen, the boisterous Italian--the film succeeds in taming the stereotypes by developing its characters so effectively...
...feel of the play itself can be described as a cross between Kafka's The Trial and the Coen Brothers' comedies (The Big Lebowski). The protagonist Gross, played by Tom Prince '02, is a self-proclaimed humanist who has been blackmailed into allowing Ptydepe to become the official means of intra-office communication by his assistant, the nefarious Ballas, played expertly by Johannes Mowth, and, presumably, by the silent accomplice Mr. Pillar (Malka Resnicoff '00/Hostetler). As Gross begins his quest to set things right and prevent the ridiculously efficient language from taking over, he meets an absurd cast of office...
Although the play came together under Hostetler's vision, it would not have come off half as well without some truly exciting acting. Prince brought his boyish looks to bear on the idealistic Gross and was at his best when Gross waxes poetic about his best when Gross waxes poetic about his subverted boyhood dreams--scenes milked for maximum farcicality by a witty combination of set props, lighting and nostalgic music. Prince was complimented and almost upstaged by a courageous performance by Mowth as the fast-talking Machiavellian, Ballas. In the most difficult role in the play, Mowth demonstrated...
...most admirable aspect of this production was its willingness to take risks. The stage itself was not only a grand aesthetic risk--with its maze of entrances, Ptydepe graffitied walls, a slide, a crooked door and a rope swing reserved for Gross' boyhood digressions--it also proved a physical risk in what some are calling the visitation of the old "Macbeth curse." Jason S. Chaffin '00-'01 (Stroll) sprained his ankle during a rehearsal, Malka Resnicoff (Ms. P) was injured and had to be replaced by none other than Hostetler, and Mimi Asness '02 (Maria) punctured her finger while striking...
...inexplicable that a culture willing to do away with so many reasonable and necessary rules of moral behavior should have picked romantic love as its one unquestioned value. Not only does the value derive from a conception that is purely Western and relatively recent, it is based on a gross misconception of what motivates love and of what virtue should be about...