Word: plays
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...even if you characterize them with compassion. Picnic, of course, nearly conquered the problem by being about sex. But if the writer centers on ordinary people, living and speaking cliches; unless he injects or carefully selects force, or crisis, or some universal overtones, or even comedy, why write the play...
This is not being quite fair; there are bits of force, universals, and even good comedy in The Dark, but not enough to lift the play from competence into excellence...
...story is about a small town Oklahoma family of the 1920's. Rubin Flood is losing his job and getting to feel left behind by the world. His wife, Cora, argues with him about all the traditional things; their first act fight and third act reconciliation frame the play. They have an engaging son, Sonny, who hates people and collects pictures of movie stars, and a teen-age daughter, Reenie, who is afraid to be social. Cora's sister, Lottie, and Lottie's husband turn out to be rather joyless, too, under her veneer of exhilaration and his of complacency...
...moments of inspired brathood and tantrums, the only really bright, vital character is an extremely likable boy who appears in Act II to take the reluctant Reenie to a dance. He commits suicide before Act III. Depressing as this may be, it is the strongest act in the play, and it brings into sharp focus an otherwise loosely meandering world...
Despite fine acting and interacting, however, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs is a play of moderate stature. If the rumors are correct and the play is autobiographical, William Inge's craftsmanship does not quite hide the fact that he had a fairly dull childhood...