Word: marler
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Posthumous Improvisations. By J. Eric Marler, graduate student in English. Leverett Old Library, 8 p.m. Tickets are available at the Holyoke Center Ticket Office or at the door. 23 April Sunday...
Written and performed by J. Eric Marler...
...program for his one-man monologue, Posthumous Improvisations, J. Eric Marler declares: "It is my strong belief that sincerity is the highest value to which art can aspire." On the grounds of sincerity, at least, his play--a 90-minute narration of events from his life over the past year--is a success. From the time we open the program to the closing scene, Marler's personality is on display; we get to see his fears, his neuroses, his failures and triumphs...
...question for the audience is whether this is enough for a play--does Marler manage to transmute his experiences into something artful and important enough for strangers to want to see them...
...most part, the answer is no. We see Marler worry about and eventually pass his General Exams in the Harvard English department, struggle with a psychotic roommate and fail in the pursuit of Pamela, an enigmatic novelist, but none of these things make the leap from anecdote to art. The monologue often relies on mere local reference to keep the audience interested. We get a sort of thrill from hearing places and people we know mentioned on stage. When Marler does strive for larger meaning, he usually achieves only pretension--as with the title, which has no more concrete meaning...