Word: heros
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...each person is his own best judge, one would be placing implicit faith in man's self-perception. While this might benefit the expert or the lucky hiker, it might also sacrifice those who are ignorant, overly ambitious, or unlucky. According to one friend, Yates came back "the conquering hero." But suppose he had slipped and twisted an ankle, suppose he hadn't come back? What then...
Approximately five minutes after Chapter II begins, the hero breaks into tears. There's nothing extraordinary about such an action-except that the play is by Neil Simon, from whom we expect snappy one-liners in the first five minutes, not sobs. But this play, currently running in Boston, reveals the voice of a more serious Simon. While the playwright's characters usually deal with the little frustrations that daily bug us all, Chapter II's protagonist faces a much more catastrophic upheaval--the death of a beloved spouse...
...play isn't completely grim. The 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...
ABOUT FIVE MINUTES into Chapter Two the hero breaks into tears. There's nothing extraordinary about such behavior--except that Chapter Two is a play by Neil Simon, from whom we expect snappy one-liners, not sobs. Though Simon's characters usually do struggle with the all-too-familiar daily frustrations that bugs us all, especially if we're upper middle class urban dwellers, Chapter Two's protagonist faces a much more catastrophic upheaval--the death of his beloved spouse...
Although Simon rarely deals with young people or with bright show-biz professionals, his tart and wacky one-liners are in perfect accord with the temperaments of his hero and heroine. The show is very New Yorky in mood, with an opening backdrop of the Manhattan skyline that is like a bas-relief of tinseled Christmas trees. A top-name pop composer. Vernon Gersch (Robert Klein), surveys the scene from his luxury apartment where he first meets Sonia Walsk (Lucie Arnaz), an aspiring lyricist much in awe of his success. When she picks up his solid-gold Oscar...