Word: played
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...most part, the play is a reenactment of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Remember them? They were about secession...and slavery...and union...and--you know--all those Civil War topics. From the tri-colored jumble that dominates the stage to periodic bursts of off-pitch folk singing, The Rivalry shrieks Americana. It is not a pleasant sound...
...script consists of transcriptions of the debates haphazardly strung together with scraps of purposeless personal interchange. It is hard to take seriously a play with straight lines like "Stephen Douglas, get your feet off that table...
However, for a play as poorly put together as The Rivalry, much of the acting is surprisingly good. John Hallowell '58 brings a home-grown intensity to the role of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's speeches are, without a doubt, some of the finer moments in the show...
...role of Douglas's wife Adele is probably the most difficult in the show. While Mrs. Douglas narrates the play from the perspective of old age, she also appears as a young wife. Unfortunately, actress Kathryn Kirkwood goes overboard in an attempt to distinguish between the two roles...
...AUTHOR of The Rivalry had tried to depict the personal relationship of Lincoln and Douglas in his dialogue, the play might have more interest. Unfortunately, the dialogue fails to explore the characters of the two men, relying on texts of the debates to do so. As a result, The Rivalry remains nothing more than a tired rehash of textbook history. Abe Lincoln deserves better...