Word: plays
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...novel based on Schulberg's trip with Fitzgerald to the Dartmouth Winter Carnival to write a script for a pot-boiler movie comedy. Yet just as Schulburg found it difficult to give direction and intellectual plausbility to his novel, he has failed to produce a coherent and meaningful play...
...major difficulty of the play is that it tries to encompass too much; it includes too many themes. It attempts to explore the spirit of the Twenties, the antagonisms between the Twenties and the Thirties, the decline of a human being, the conflict between the creative writer and the movie Mammon, and the love and failure in love of a man and a woman. Some of this material, such as the conflict between the Twenties and Thirties, does not seem especially important a quarter of a century later...
Much of the other material is covered in flashbacks, which, although often skillfully executed, greatly distract from the play's effect and continuity. The Disenchanted would be a much better play if most, if not all, of these flashbacks were eliminated. For most literate spectators, it is not necessary to review the spirit of the Twenties or the life of Fitzgerald. For most, that decade and its Fitzgerald and Zelda evoke more images and emotions than the flashback could ever portray...
...beginning. Gizzard continually overacts and, like many of the other performers, including Robards, mistakes volume for intensity. At many points, the grating quality of Stearns' performance, make audience participation impossible. Stearns' best moments are his comedy scenes with Robards, and these scenes form the most memorable part of the play. This is, in a sense, unfortunate, since The Disenchanted is not meant to be a comedy...
...crushing line play that is Briggs' specialty was definitely missed in the Penn contest, although substitute tackle Bob Pillsbury turned in a commendable job. It is probable that Briggs will see action against Princeton, but his mobility may be somewhat hampered...