Word: macleish
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Which, in the words of Archibald MacLeish, "defied the categories and altered the sensibility of his time...
...federalized the Arkansas National Guard to integrate the schools of Little Rock, the country had an ugly glimpse of things to come. If we think of the '50s now as the last golden age, a period of moral poise, they seemed at the time very different. Archibald MacLeish wrote in 1955: "We have entered the Age of Despondency, with the Age of Desperation just around the corner." Someone is always saying that; it is almost always true...
...Zuss, Alice Brown's booming voice and flamboyant style capture the arrogance of her character, a person so awed by the splendor and magnificence of the Almighty that she can never doubt the rightness of His actions. Her performance perfectly complements rumpled David Reiffel's Nickles, to whom MacLeish gives the play's most cynicism at one moment and impassioned pleas for humanity at the next, never allowing his scenes with Brown to become bogged down in the author's cosmic ideas. Both performers display an impressive dramatic range as their feelings toward their "pigeon," J.B., grow more complex...
David Moore in the title role is the crown jewel in this showcase of performances. In his first dinnertable scene, Moore displays a seemingly effortless command of MacLeish's verse. He makes the most poetic images sound as natural as daily conversations, vivifying their beauty. Even in his brief moments of arrogance and self-congratulation, Moore's J.B. is a charmer, firmly taking grasp of the audience's sympathy and holding it until the play's final moment. As his life heads recklessly down the path of disaster, he clings to his belief in God's goodness...
...unleashes a 50-megaton cry to God for justice, for a reason. He cannot accept the logic of the grinning, trembling priest--David Van Taylor shines as this Father O'Malley through Stanley Kubrick's lens. The priest offers a straight-forward answer to J.B.'s questions and MacLeish's Question: "Your sin is simple. You were born...