Word: melodrama
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...MAIDS, Satirikon Theater, Moscow. In drag and wearing extravagant eye makeup, Konstantin Raikin stars in a rare Russian version of Jean Genet's sadomasochistic melodrama, directed by Roman Viktyuk...
Most readers of The New York Times would be shocked to see any of these hypothetical headlines. Yet there is nothing surprising in this kind of melodrama about Israel. Seeing "Israeli Army Pushes Town to Hatred" transparently disguised as a human rights cause is expected; it is even boring...
...quite right to say the performances are bad. Presumably at Berkoff's behest, they are as exaggerated as in a Victorian melodrama, the emotional colors underlined by music as tinkly or percussive as in Beijing opera. In a further attempt to weight the scales in favor of the sensitive outcast, Baryshnikov's speeches are candidly written and delivered with touching directness. Most remarkable, however, are his agility and grace in evoking the lumbering, graceless creature. Skittering across the floor, or toppled over backward and trying to right himself, or dangling from the spider web of piping that represents a ceiling...
...least good craft. Maas, who has skillfully dovetailed law-and-disorder in best sellers like Serpico and The Valachi Papers, proves adept at joining history to melodrama and to convincing plot twists with slightly implausible characterizations. A middle-aged New York City adman named McGuire turns into a modified James Bond to investigate the disappearance of a headstrong son, a Harvard student who was mixed up with running guns to the I.R.A. McGuire's metamorphosis may strain credulity, but his motives are authentically rooted in strong parental emotions...
...father shouldn't have to sacrifice a kidney to get a necessary operation for his daughter. Unfortunately, banning the kidney sale won't solve the problem of paying for the operation. Nor can the world yet afford expensive operations for everyone who needs one. And leaving aside the melodrama of the daughter's operation, we don't stop people from doing things to support their families -- working in coal mines, for example -- that reduce their life expectancies , more than would the loss of a kidney. In fact, there are places in the Third World where even...