Word: plautus
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...husband Amphitryon and so wins a night under the sheets with the loving wife. Over time this tale of unwitting adultery has been transformed into a farcical matter, one which has formed the basis for an impressive number of plays. Continuing a tradition started by the Roman playwright Plautus, the 20th century French dramatist Jean Giraudoux actually wrote a version entitled Amphitryon 38, counting his rendition as the 38th retelling of the myth...
...even sanctuary, in the Old Cambridge Baptist Church behind the Inn at Harvard. We should remember this contribution in less turbulent times when enjoying the church's creative role in the production and performance of theatrical events, including a nod to ancient comedy in last year's "Menaechmi" of Plautus. In the late '60s and early '70s, the church was a center of protest for those politically opposed to the draft and to the Vietnam War as a whole. In the '80s, it was part of the vocal opposition to the violence and political persecution in Central America...
...brilliantly refreshed by director Jerry Zaks into a circus of Technicolor bawdry. He parades all the fine, low comedians and, for a hilarious moment, some tragedians too. Like Zaks' revival of Guys and Dolls, this Forum is a celebration of shtick. If a gag was ever funny, from Plautus' time to ours, he'll spit on it and spin it until you have to laugh unashamedly...
...that television violence is an important cause of real violence in America are legion, and fairly obvious. Somali children gleefully fire grenades at clan rivals, while Bosnians and Serbs rape and kill each other, all without encouragement from television. Homo homini lupus--"man is a wolf to man"--was Plautus' lament long before NYPD Blue...
...sure, whenever the grave and lovely Rae Dawn Chong appears as Sarah, the young black woman Mark falls in love with, this pact is broken. But she cannot overcome the cliches of mistaken-identity comedy that were stylized when Plautus was a pup. Or enliven the film's sermon that even in enlightened environments like Harvard, racial stereotyping and unconscious prejudice still exist. The approach is too comfortable, the tone patronizing. The N.A.A.C.P. has greeted Soul Man with protests; one suspects it is not so much because the movie's heart is in the wrong place, but because its heart...