Word: nephew
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Rameau's Nephew...
...volume Encyclopedie for which he is best known, Denis Diderot defined satire as a work "dictated by the spirit of invective." The American Repertory Theatre's staging of Diderot's Rameau's Nephew may have other elements besides that of invective, but the cynicism and nastiness with which the title character skewers 18th-Century French society provide most of this play's merriment. Rameau's Nephew skillfully combines old-fashioned satire with modern expletives, and while this production is saddled by the occasional annoying technical gag, as a game of wicked dialogue the results are delicious...
...Rameau's Nephew is ostensibly the record of a conversation between two characters, I (Jeremy Geidt) and He (Tony Shalhoub), at the Cafe de la Regence in Paris. I is a philosopher who spends hours "observing all, talking to none," at his favorite haunts. He is the outcast nephew of the celebrated French composer Jean Philippe Rameau. Their verbal duel can either be interpreted as a disagreement of lifestyles between two people or as a vocalized internal struggle within an ambiguous individual...
...event, the argument is essentially over money. Can one live, as the philosopher does, in a state of perpetual disdain towards the material world? Or is it, as Rameau's nephew insists, "so hard to be poor when all around you are rich?" As the more conventional character, Geidt's arguments are invariably less interesting. To his credit, however, Geidt manages to hold the audience's attention while maintaining the same position on stage and without changing his facial expression for several minutes at a time...
...this, and Bert Parks in a sombrero, warbling Tequila. Pretty rich. And though it's hard to say if old Bert knows he's being funny, the other actors do know, and joyously strut their best comic stuff. As Carmine's nephew, who arranges his meeting with Clark, Bruno Kirby redefines the combined bluster, sleaze and obsequiousness of the typical New York City fringe dweller. Maximilian Schell is in high, black humor as a madly galloping gourmet chef (you don't want to think too hard about his plans for that dragon). And Paul Benedict's pomposity, pretentiousness and venality...