Word: winterset
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...rising generation of playwrights with something to say about America, not just about the commonplace, tired excuses for dramatic themes that until then were the bulk of theater in this country. The best, or at least the most successful, of that generation of writers was Maxwell Anderson, whose Winterset (1935) is currently in performance at the Loeb. Anderson tried to work modern themes into the dramatic contexts of his plays without overwhelming the drama for the sake of the message. Sometimes it worked-as in High Tor, a delightful play about "progress" and a poltergeist-inhabited mountain overlooking the Hudson...
Although Anderson deserves endless praise for leading American theater into relevance, it must also be noted that sometimes his techniques didn't work. Unfortunately, Winterset is one of those plays that didn't work; at least it doesn't now, forty-odd years after its premiere. In its relentlessly hammering sweep of great social themes, the powerful story of a star-crossed couple's evanescent love is overwhelmed and rendered somewhat cloying and melodramatic. Mixed into this background are poverty, injustice, collective as well as individual culpability, and the Sacco-Vanzetti trial...
...Winterset presents a formidable challenge for any company because it is so unwieldy. The Loeb's ensemble though blessed with excellent technical work and some fine actors, does not quite manage to overcome the sheer leaden ness of this three-hour-plus, heavy drama. They give it a good try, only to fold up, as does much of the audience, by the time the third act rolls around...
...Winterset--The Loeb's latest offering--Maxwell Anderson's American beauty. At the Loeb, Brattle St., Friday at 8, Saturday...
Play: Harvard Summer Repertory Theater--Winterset, by Maxwell Anderson. 8 p.m., Loeb Drama Center. $5, $6, $7.50. Through July 29; Tues...