Word: hellman
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PUZZLING. That about 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...
...Hellman's play depicts the plight of two schoolteachers, Martha Dobie (Jenny Cornuelle) and Karen Wright (Becky Stone), whose school for girls is threatened by the spitefulness of a spoiled, self-centered child who defies the women's sincere efforts to understand her resentment. When the child, Mary Tilford (Patrice Dabrowski), receives a just punishment for a series of rule infractions, she fabricates a tale that the schoolteachers are lesbians, convincing her grandmother (Cynthis Weinrich) to withdraw her and the other girls from the school. The teachers countersuit for slander fails, in part because Martha's aunt (Amy Aquino) refuses...
Although lesbianism itself fails to spark the emotional horror of the late '30s, Hellman's theme of irresponsible malice and perverted righteousness still rings true, even if the power of her tale is marred by several melodramatic scenes, slightly overdrawn characterizations, and an appalling denouement...
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...
...Timex. An articulate man who refuses to use either Hollywood lingo or the latest L.A. hip-speak, Beatty likes to take long pauses in the middle of sentences to make sure that he doesn't say more than he intends. In action, he is fast and effective. Lillian Hellman describes Beatty as a "foul-weather friend," the first person to call in a crisis. Says Mike Nichols: "He can make 65 calls in three hours and plan anything." Beatty is also a health-food enthusiast and, as Nichols notes, "a postgraduate hypochondriac." He tells of the time that Beatty crossed...