Word: one
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Teamsters are about to file a civil suit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act - a law often used in the past by the government to combat mob influence in labor. One target of the suit: Teamster ex-president Ron Carey, ejected from the union in 1997 after a finding that his 1996 run for the top job was tainted by campaign-finance abuses...
...script is subtle and complex, and this production takes full advantage of its depth. Nor is it one-sided: as we learn from a ten-year correspondence (often wonderfully interactive on stage) between Karen and Bibi, Karen feels stifled by the oppressive Chinese regime that imposes the role of a "good citizen" on its people at the expense of the individual. Karen feels like "a beautiful bird in a cage" whose colors will never be seen nor its song heard. Reading about America and the freedom allowed in the West in books sent by Bibi only makes Karen more depressed...
...originality of this play lies in the fact that Bibi too has problems, despite the freedoms of America. This play does not idealize American society--the only quibble one might have with the play is that it never mentions any positive aspects of Chinese culture, perhaps because it is written from a Chinese-American viewpoint. Bibi's problems include a lack of direction and dissatisfaction with her career in journalism--her dilemma stems from an overabundance of choices. While Bibi's problem lies in too many men from which to choose, Karen can only choose one. Bibi complains of quickly...
...Quach must be congratulated for her brilliant direction of this play. The chorus, which consists of a small number of actors who play various other roles, is effective, and one does not get confused by the changing roles. My personal favorite, Debbie the Cat (Bill Maskiell '02), captures perfectly the essence of feline nature with a human personality. Such humor makes Letters not only a dramatic and moving testament to the universal human need for freedom and self-fulfillment, but also a funny and delightful play to watch...
...come out of the Somalia debacle, which had been badly managed by both the U.S. and the U.N., Washington didn't want to get involved in another complex conflict in Africa." Of course, while the solutions were complex, the numbers were devastatingly simple: 800,000 people were killed in one month in Rwanda as Hutu mobs butchered their Tutsi neighbors...