Word: kopital
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ABOUT HALF-WAY through Arthur Kopit's nuclear war comedy End of the World with Symposium to Follow the protagonist, who has been commissioned to research and write a play about nuclear war, meets a Pentagon general off-the-record at a foggy rendezvous. The official confesses that he has no idea of how to bring the arms race under control." Stop me," he begs...
...Kopit's central metaphor is that of the playwright as detective. Soon enough, Trent's curiosity defeats his hesitation. In a Philip Marlowe trenchcoat, Trent dutifully goes to Washington to search for clues. But the confusion only gets worse as he tries to discover the logic of nuclear policy, as well as why Stone has chosen him for the commission...
This "mystery-play" device, though not particularly clever, nevertheless pulls us through the maze-like plot and through the dizzying Nukespeak of the D.C. policymakers. Indeed, one of the strong points of Kopit's script is his dead-accurate ear for the language and argumentation of Pentagon people...
...Kopit, however, isn't content with merely showing us the familiar Dr. Strangelove crew of zanies. He also makes intriguing suggestions about curiosity and the allure of the vision of the ultimate catastrophe. Foreman's eerie, often surreal staging captures the sense of this fatal desire...
...Kopit's play about the unwinnable war, the unthinkable fate, is not quite an unmissable event. Occasionally, what lacks subtlety becomes overbearing, as with Ken Howard's performance. More frequently, though, the production is an eloquent, moving one. Hardly a worstcase scenario...