Word: mastered
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Training Center near Chicago grouse that enlisted personnel do not always stand when an officer enters a room, and that recruits in uniform smoke on the street. Officers hesitate to enforce rules because the new sailers could and perhaps would demand a lengthy explanation before following the orders. Complains Master Chief Petty Officer Charles Chambers in San Diego: "You can't tell a kid to square away his uniform any longer. In my day, you were controlled around the clock. Today they are all at the beach." Says Master Chief Petty Officer Kenneth Henry: "We can't even...
...where the pseudo anarchists strike with bolder and bolder feats or abductions. We have a vague notion that Italy has the monopoly on banditry−bandit being of Italian origin−and that kidnaping is as much part of the Italian scene as opéra bouffe. (The great master of English opéra bouffe, W.S. Gilbert, was kidnaped as a baby in Naples−an event both Neapolitan and Gilbertian.) And it is true that it has traditionally been hard to think of Italy as tranquil, law-abiding, prepared to solve its problems through calm discussion...
Before discussing the script, thought, it is only fair to give the Loeb players their due; and certainly, they deserve a rave. From Jon Goerner, who balances Figaro's cynical honesty with just the right degree of humor, to Linda Cameron, Figaro's master's love, to Jonathan Prince, the hilarious flunky who serves the highest bidder, the cast is one of the best assembled in some time at the Loeb. If at times we are given a few too many slapstick gags, these times are few. For the most part, the buffoonery is nicely balanced by a moment...
...this version, is a little less cutesy. To begin with, there's a major shift in mood: Figaro is not straight comedy, which The Barber certainly is. Instead, it is a fairly cynical look at marriage (the four-years-later episode of Count Almaviva and Rosina's romance), the master-servant relationship (the Count repays Figaro's first act help by demanding the droit du signeur of Figaro's bride), all made more complicated than necessary by intrigues and mishaps. The cast manages generally to overcome the mood-change by keeping the tone as lighthearted as possible and by stressing...
There is an argument to be made in favor of the playwright, suggesting that the link between the plays was essentially a political one. In this light, Figaro would have to stress the inequality of the friendship between man and master, as seen in Count Almaviva's failure to return Figaro's help in the second half of the play. That argument, however, would have little evidence to support it except the final chorus, which includes lines like, "But hear the thunder from the left, denouncing property as theft," and is sung to the tun of the British Labour Party...