Word: stratagem
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...hearts. But by Farquhar's day, the twin corrupters of that comedy lurked in the wings-virtue, which would bar both wit and lechery from the stage, and romance, which would open the sluices of sentimentality. Traces of this mar Farquhar's last play, The Beaux' Stratagem...
Chestnutty As They Come. It is with The Beaux' Stratagem that the British National Theater, headed by Sir Laurence Olivier, has chosen to open its first U.S. engagement, a six-week run at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theater during which the company will also do Chekhov's Three Sisters. Stratagem is a slightly odd choice in that a mighty ensemble of actors is laboring over a mite of a classic. It is rather like the winner of the Grand National demonstrating how to clear a two-foot hedge. Naturally, this superb company does it with grace, stamina...
...plot of The Beaux' Stratagem is as chestnutty as they come. Two young purse-poor gallants pose as master and servant in order to wed wealthily. One sometimes feels that money is the English equivalent of Nirvana. The country inn, where much of the action takes place, is the English dramatic equivalent of the French bedroom. It offers an almost novelistic diversity of characters and encounters. Prelates and highwaymen, maids and matrons meet and mingle-strangers in the night who may, with a little bit of luck, become intimates for the night. Mine host, Boniface, has given his name...
...relationship between art and abnormality-Orsini's back is the burden of his genius. It compels him to refine everything into art, including cruelty and murder. He even lays a beautifully cunning trap to secure an heir by mating his brother with his wife. Ironically, this perverted, successful stratagem restores his own potency. A brood of his own follows-including another hunchback...
...fight is not quite over. The bill will probably be passed by the Senate, despite the bitter opposition of Senate President (and former Premier) Amintore Fanfani. Even then, the anti-divorce forces have one last stratagem. They will press for a referendum next year to give the Italian people a chance to repeal the law. Said L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican daily: "Divorce may have a parliamentary majority, but it is not approved by a majority of Italians." That remains to be seen. At any rate, if the bill is enacted and remains in effect even for only...