Word: val
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ASSISTANT EDITORS: Ursula Nadasdy de Gallo, Andrea Dorfman, Brigid O'Hara-Forster, William Tynan, Sidney Urquhart, Jane Van Tassel (Department Heads); Bernard Baumohl, David Bjerklie, Val Castronovo, Georgia Harbison, Ratu Kamlani, Sue Raffety, Susan M. Reed, Elizabeth Rudulph, Susanne Washburn, Linda Young...
...Rothchild, Richard Schickel, Walter Shapiro, R.Z. Sheppard, John Skow, Martha Smilgis, Mark Alan Stamaty, Richard Stengel, Andrew Tobias, Claudia Wallis, Michael Walsh, Robert Wright ASSISTANT EDITORS: Ursula Nadasdy de Gallo, Andrea Dorfman, Brigid O'Hara-Forster, William Tynan, Sidney Urquhart, Jane Van Tassel (Department Heads); Bernard Baumohl, David Bjerklie, Val Castronovo, Georgia Harbison, Ratu Kamlani, Sue Raffety, Susan M. Reed, Elizabeth Rudulph, Susanne Washburn, Linda Young...
ASSISTANT EDITORS: Ursula Nadasdy de Gallo, Andrea Dorfman, Brigid O'Hara-Forster, William Tynan, Sidney Urquhart, Jane Van Tassel (Department Heads); Bernard Baumohl, David Bjerklie, Val Castronovo, Georgia Harbison, Ratu Kamlani, Sue Raffety, Susan M. Reed, Elizabeth Rudulph, Susanne Washburn, Linda Young...
Williams' brilliance lies in his finely tuned understanding of a society that seeks to crush what is different, lest the shades of its own guilty past reappear to haunt its members. Impropriety is a crime punishable by death. Val is no innocent, and Caughey's nuanced performance acknowledges the complexity of the character. But he is a martyr. Sheriff Talbott and his men make for an odd band of Maenads, but after all, this is Tennessee Williams...
Orpheus Descending concludes at the moment of impending violence. Having dared to cast a final glance at the face of his beloved Lady, Val disappears into the night with the Sheriff's men in pursuit. Having condemned his lover to death, the young drifter is forced to resume the life he longed to leave behind. Though the mythical Orpheus "made Hell grant what love did seek," he could not escape the spectre of death. We are allowed the hope, however futile, that Tennessee Williams' rebel musician might...