Word: thoreau
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...seems to define his particular demographic. In a statement included in the playbill, Davis explains that Generation X signifies an apocalypse of sorts to him. It is not one ushered in by four horsemen and plenty of fire, but rather a protracted apocalypse of mass resignation similar to what Thoreau described as lives led in quiet desperation...
Whether this apocalypse has been dragging on all this time is unclear. You'll just have to ask Davis. "Greetings" reflects on life in the nineties through a mixture of comic monologues on politics and pop culture and short sketches about Davis' miserable love life. Just how the apocalypse, Thoreau and Davis' ex-'s all hang together never becomes clear but the jumble of thoughts does have a loose coherence. At least we know that Davis says we're in the midst of this apocalypse right now. Too many people meander through life with bad attitudes, and instead they should...
...fact, far from being simple and banal, the final monologue is turgid and confusing. The closing act abandons comedy altogether for a sentimental affirmation of life as something to cherish by mixing a heavy dose of Thoreau with Davis' own ardent declamations. The rather opaque passages from "Higher Laws," "Solitude" and other essays are further obscured by Davis' casual commentary scattered throughout. When finally he concludes that he is "everything God intended in man," he is everyone from Jesus to Ghandi to Ghengis Khan, the poetics ring hollow...
Bass' great gift is his ability to set a mood. Whether typifying the "Quiet desperation" Thoreau described or expressing the peace that comes after doing something difficult and doing it well, the characters, natural environment, dialogue and narration work together to give the piece just the right flavor...
...outraged Henry David Thoreau wrote, "How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today? I answered that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it." Angry rhetoric is not new. But neither is America's balm for it. Thoreau would vanish into the woods of Walden to deal quietly with despair. And in the moments of silence Americans devote to contemplating the probable causes of the horrors of Oklahoma, another venerable piece of Thoreau's advice should resurface: "It is characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things." --Reported by Sam Allis/Boston and Nina Burleigh, James...