Word: mehitabel
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...sweet but dissolute alley cat and a philosophically minded cockroach, symbols of the dual cultures of the 1920's and 30's, inhabit the strange world recreated in Kirkland House's archy and mehitabel. Richard Gottlieb's adaptation of the original series by Don Marquis, however, largely ignores the periods atmosphere in favor of the humor and occasional pathos of Marquis's animal characters. Add occasional music by Larry Johnson, and the result is a curious but thoroughly enjoyable mixture of comedy and fantasy...
Jody Adams as mehitabel made a part that could easily have worn thin (her motto, "toujours gaie," must have been repeated 50 times) constantly amusing, surprising whenever possible, and occasionally touching. John Sansone's archy, however, didn't quite click, perhaps because his part was rather stupid: a lot of wise sayings from the cockroach's perspective on human life, neither incisive nor witty...
...archy. Most readers resolve these by regarding him as a type of masculine lady bug, and a director would probably gain little by probing the entomological implications of the creature's identity. But still, the interpretation of archy determines how much dramatic mileage can be gotten from archy and mehitabel...
...most difficult part in the play is that of the cat mehitabel (Anne Bernstein), mehitabel is the kind of plucky creature whose realism and illusions are made of identical indestructible fiber. As surely as she recognizes that her guts will soon be fiddle strings, she believes that she was Cleopatra in a previous incarnation. She drowns her children, but in such a charming way. Miss Bernstein's mehitabel is so unambiguous that insights about her seem surprisingly unincisive, but still, her performance is good, for it is both believable and attractive...
...have always longed for the definitive interpretation of the psychological crisis of a worm undergoing assimilation by a bird, and if you have no delicate young preconceptions to nurse, archy and mehitabel is your show. Do not take too seriously the dictate of those who say, like the girl in front of me, that you gottuv read the book to really understand the play...