201. cllrdr - July 25, 1999 - 10:12 AM PT
Looking forward.
202. cmboyce - July 25, 1999 - 9:17 PM PT
Cellar, I liked your comment on Orton, back there. Would you like to elaborate on it a little?
203. benear - July 30, 1999 - 5:09 AM PT
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
Shaw started his career as a music critic. In 1892 in collaboration with another critic, William Archer, Shaw wrote his first play, "Widower's Houses", a naturalistic comedy that was an expose' of slum conditions and mercenary landlords. This was the beginning of the most significant collection of modern drama by a single playwright.
In 1876, Shaw left Dublin for London as the "upstart son of a downstart father". He had a haphazard education, some training in music and a voracious appetite for knowledge.
At one time, he was influenced by Marxism before he became a pillar of the socialist Fabian Society. He was a formidable orator and ran for office unsuccessfully as a Labor party candidate. Thus, he laid the groundwork for his appraisal of man as an economic and political animal and of society as a decrepit organism requiring a good dose of socialism to right itself.
204. benear - July 30, 1999 - 5:19 AM PT
Between 1879 and 1883 he wrote novels and soon thereafter became an able theater critic. He scorned the theory of art for art's sake and called for a living relationship between the arts and society.
Between 1895 and 1898 he was theater critic for "Saturday Review" and his collected reviews from that period, "Our Theaters in The Nineties" (3 vols.) comprise a very distinguished body of criticism. He also wrote books about Wagner (1898) and Ibsen (1891)
In "Mrs. Warren's Profession" (1894) Shaw exposed the economic basis of prostitution and the hypocracies of an upper-class society that drew profits from sweatshop labor. His "Major Barbara" (1905) was a blunt indictment of philanthropy as a mere facade for a profit-minded social order responsible for the very miseries it tries to alleviate.
Shaw wrote about British imperialism and Ireland in "John Bull's Other Island" (1904); about the futility of the old war-ridden social order in "Heartbreak House" (1919); about the failure of parliamentary democracy in "The Apple Cart" (1929); about the hopelessness of the situation in Europe on the eve of WWII in "Too True to Be Good" (1931); and about the coming of fascism and revolution in "On the Rocks" (1933).
205. benear - July 30, 1999 - 5:29 AM PT
On the lighter side, Shaw demonstrated a talent for comic improvisation that had not been approximated since the death of Moliere. But even Shaw's comic plays were serious in aim. His 4th play "Arm and the Man" (1894) deflated military glory; "The Devil's Disciple" (1897) and "Captain Brassbound's Conversion" (1899) subjected heroism to provocative examination' "Candida" (1895), "The Philanderer" (1893), "You Never Can Tell" (1896) and "Getting Married" (1908) brought domestic relations under acute observation. "Man and Superman" (1903) gave incisive treatment to love and the biological drive. In his satire, "Pygmalion" (1912) the difference between a cockney flower girl and a duchess is revealed to be a matter of economics and of accomplishments obtainable with a little training.
Shaw's range was remarkable. He revealed a staggering virtuosity in the fantasia "Back to Methuselah" (1920) which entertained the comic idea that men make a mess of this world because they don't live long enough to develop any sense. In two historical pieces, "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1898), a wholly modern comedy and "Saint Joan" (1923) a combination of spiritual exaltation and historical materialism, Shaw practically changed dramatic horizons.
206. benear - July 30, 1999 - 5:35 AM PT
Many of Shaw's characters were simply mouthpieces for his ideas and philosophy. But he was also a master of characterization when he wanted to be. Caesar is a brilliant portrait of a whole man and genius. The saints in the comedy of early Christianity "Androcles and The Lion" (1912) are supremely human. Barbara and Undershaft in "Major Barbara" are memorable and "Candida" is one of the outstanding character dramas ever written in English. In "Candida", Shaw's heroine is a completely modern and remarkably rounded person. She is Ibsen's Nora grown up and self-possessed. Social issues such as the emancipation of women and the exploitation of labor are subordinated to the interest in Candida's character.
207. benear - July 30, 1999 - 5:43 AM PT
"Heartbreak House" has roots in traditional theater. Its characters are Shavian inversions of commedia dell' arte or Roman comedy figures. Shotover, for example, is a Pantalone or senex who, unlike his ancestors, marries the Innamorata who, unlike hers, chooses to marry him. Hector hushabye is Il Capitano, a miles gloriosus boasting of imaginary feats of heroism, but unlike his forebarers, he is really brave. Ellie is the ingenue, Hector is the romantic lead, Mangan is the heavy, Shotover the comic old man and Nurse Guinness is the comic old woman.
Also traditional is the play's central plot: an innocent damsel about to marry a swinish millionaire for the sake of her father. However, Shaw inverts this device also: his heroine manipulates the millionaire rather than the other way around.
Despite the resemblences between "Heartbreak House" and traditional theater, there are profound differences. Shaw used structures that were more free than those employed in his variants of the 19th century well-made play. Debate and dialectic, usually considered undramatic, were prominant features of Shavian comedy.
208. benear - July 30, 1999 - 5:47 AM PT
By the time of "Candida", even more so by the time of "Heartbreak House" written two decades and one world war later, the comfortable bourgeois world reflected by the plays of Scribe and Sardou was disintigrating. Shaw's comedies, reflecting these changing conceptions of human relationships, scrutinized and debated the collapsing values of that world. Ibsen replaced the traditional exposition-situation-unraveling with exposition-situation-discussion. Shaw took this innovation and ran with it to its logical end.
209. benear - July 30, 1999 - 5:55 AM PT
"Heartbreak House" is frankly labeled "A Fantasia", a musical term signifying the absence of formal restrictions. A musical fantasia may be a combination of airs arranged in an irregular pattern with ornate decorations and interludes. A dramatic fantasia is a combination of themes similarly arranged. The play's full subtitle is "A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes". Shaw's "Russian Manner" combines Tolstoy's ethical indignation and Chekhov's technique.
"Heartbreak House" centers upon a character shedding his illusions and learning about reality. At first a sentimental romantic, Ellie hardens when she learns that Hector's stories are lies and that he is Hesione's husband. Resolving that her inability to have love should not mean she must be poor, she determines to marry Mangan, but Shotover persuades her that her integrity would be irreparably damaged if she did so. Young Ellie's marriage to old Shotover may symbolize the union of vigor and life with experience and sagacity. "Heartbreak House" is thus a commentary on the relationship between America and Europe.
210. benear - July 30, 1999 - 5:59 AM PT
"Heartbreak House" is not only about marriage (political and otherwise) but is also about heartbreak which Hesione defines as "Life educating you" and which Ellie describes as "the sort of pain that goes mercifully beyond our powers of feeling. When your heart is broken, your boats are burned: nothing matters any more. It is the end of happiness and the beginning of peace."
This existential anguish is later developed by Shaw in "Too True to Be Good" into a sense of the absurdity of man's existence in a meaningless universe.
211. benear - July 30, 1999 - 6:09 AM PT
In mood as well as in time, "Heartbreak House" stands midway between "John Bull's Other Island" and "Too True to Be Good". Completed in 1919, it anticipates the decline of England as a world power as well as the tensions of the Atomic Age. But mostly it reflects the period of WWI - the first "modern" war in which the shells of the battlefield were brought directly to the civilian population centers. Shaw blamed this vast slaughter on both sides.
Shaw's compassion for the young men slaughtered and mutilated en masse passed national boundaries. In the Preface to "Heartbreak House", he wrote, "To the truly civilized man, to the good European, the slaughter of the German youth was as disasterous as the slaughter of the English. Fools exulted in 'German losses'. They were our losses as well. Imagine exulting in the death of Beethoven because Bill Sykes dealt him his death blow!"
The war's carnage, Shaw's alienation from his fellow Englishmen and the subsequent failure of Woodrow Wilson to create a just peace form the background to "Heartbreak House". This play is Shaw's broken heart on display to the world. To this very day, my heart breaks when I read it.
212. cllrdr - July 31, 1999 - 4:36 PM PT
"202. cmboyce - July 25, 1999 - 9:17 PM PT
Cellar, I liked your comment on Orton, back there. Would you like to elaborate on it a little?"
Could you refresh my memory on that score? I've been off-Fray for a few days.
213. benear - Aug. 4, 1999 - 4:51 AM PT
I have just been too busy to complete this. Mea culpa. Also, I have failed to announce that this Friday, I will begin discussion of Anton Chekhov and "The Cherry Orchard". It is a short play, so two days should be plenty of time to read it.
But now....
214. benear - Aug. 4, 1999 - 5:00 AM PT
Heartbreak House
Characters
Ellie Dunn
Captain Shotover
Hesione Hushabye (Shotover's younger daughter)
Hector Hushabye (Hesione's husband)
Boss Mangan
Lady Utterword (Ariadne) (Shotover's older daughter)
Mazzini Dunn (Ellie's father)
Randall Utterword (Ariadne's brother-in-law)
The Burgler
Nurse Guiness
Act I
The play is set in the hilly country in the middle of the North edge of Sussex. This is just the beginning of a long and detailed description by Shaw of the interior room and the exterior scene that can be seen through the windows of the room.
The room resembles the aft part of an old-fashioned high-pooped ship with a stern gallery. The contents of the room include:
a carpenter's bench
unupholstered window seat
plain oak drawing table
draughtsman's chair
a ship's fire bucket
bookshelves
a sofa upholstered in sail cloth
a big wicker chair
a small, stout teak table (the only article in the room that suggests a woman's influence)
The floor looks like a ship's deck.
215. benear - Aug. 4, 1999 - 5:34 AM PT
Shaw used idiosyncratic punctuation and spelling. He omited the apostrophes from contractions such as youd, youre, didnt, cant, isnt, etc. He did use them for it's and I'm. He used "show" as a noun but "shew" as the verb. Rather than use italics, he used s p a c e s.
Act I starts with "The Young Lady" on stage reading a book, when "The Woman Servant" enters. He does this with all the characters, refering to them with generic terms until the characters introduce themselves. It is only several minutes into the action before the reader (as well as the viewer) discover that The Young Lady is Ellie and The Woman Servant is Nurse Guiness.
216. benear - Aug. 4, 1999 - 5:41 AM PT
Shotover appears to be somewhat crazy, or senile or both. In reality, he is very sharp and clever. He only pretends to not understand what is happening around him when it suits his purposes. His relationship to his daughters is clearly outlined when he says to Ellie:
I, madam have two daughters. One of them is Hesione Hushabye, who invited you here. I keep this house: she upsets it. I desire to attain the seventh degree of concentration: she invites visitors and leaves them to me to entertain them. I have a second daughter who is, thank God, in a remote part of the Empire with her numbskull of a husband. As a child she thought the figure-head of my ship, the Dauntless, the most beautiful thing on earth. He resembled it. He had the same expression: wooden, yet enterprising. She married him, and will never set foot in this house again.
217. benear - Aug. 4, 1999 - 5:46 AM PT
Hesione has invited Ellie to visit but is not around to receive her. Ellie has been waiting for hours and her luggage is still sitting on the front porch. Ariadne has just returned to England for health reasons. Her husband, Hastings Utterword, "has been governor of all the crown colonies in succession."
The house is disorganized. Ariadne told Shotover she was returning to England. Shotover ignored her and failed to tell Hesione. So Ariadne's visit is a surprise to everyone except Shotover.
There are no regular meals in the house, however, no one is hungry because bread and butter and apples are continuously available as is tea. The house has "the same disorder in ideas, in talk, in feeling."
218. benear - Aug. 4, 1999 - 5:58 AM PT
The servants are "spoilt and impossible". Typical of this is this exchange:
Nurse: You were always for respectability, Miss Addy.
Lady Utterword: Nurse: will you please remember that I am Lady Utterword, and not Miss Addy, nor lovey, nor darling, nor doty? Do you hear?
Nurse: Yes, ducky: all right, I'll tell them all they must call you my lady.
Nurse Guiness is actually a character. She has dimension. She ignores her masters for the most part and does as she pleases. In fact, Shaw makes it pretty clear that the "masters" of the house are very dependent on the servants. It is because of the servants that there is any food or drink available. If it were up to Hesione, they would probably all starve.
You may remember Berta in Hedda Gabler. She was not a character at all. She was a plot device, a sort of revolving door, by which the real characters, letters, etc., are introduced into and ushered out of the action. Other than that, she was largely invisible. There is a progression in the treatment of the serving classes from Ibsen to Shaw to Chekhov. As we will see in "The Cherry Orchard", servants are the main characters.
219. benear - Aug. 4, 1999 - 6:05 AM PT
Shotover is 88 years old. He claims not to recognize Ariadne. He also tells everyone that Ellie is the daughter of Billy Dunn, a former crew member who was "a thief, a pirate, a murderer". Ariadne and Ellie are scandalized by his behavior. Ariadne suspects that he doesn't "forget" as much as he pretends to.
Hesione doesn't recognize Ariadne either. Ariadne has been away for 23 years. Ellie is engaged to Mangan and Hesione intends to talk her out of it. Mazzini Dunn is a "freedom fighter" and very poor. Mangan is a "Nepoleon of industry and disgustingly rich". He and Mazzini grew up together.
When Ellie was a child, Mangan gave Mazzini the capital to set up his own business. Within two years, Mazzini was bankrupt, having lost even more money than Mangan had given him. Mangan bought him out and built the business into a very profitable enterprise.
220. benear - Aug. 4, 1999 - 6:24 AM PT
The book that Ellie was reading at the opening of the play was a collection of Shakespeare's plays. Specifically she was reading "Otello". She and Hesione discuss the play. Hesione is a cynic and thinks Otello is a liar and that Desdemona would have discovered that, had she lived.
This leads to Ellie admitting that she is in love with someone she met at a concert and again later at the National Gallery. He name is "Marcus Darnley" and he has been telling whoppers to Ellie which she believes in spite of their improbability. He was a foundling discovered in a chest with 500 Pounds in gold. He saved a tiger from one of King Edward's hunting parties. He fought at the barricades in three revolutions. As Ellie relates the feats of bravery, it is obvious that Hesione has heard similar tales before.
221. benear - Aug. 4, 1999 - 6:29 AM PT
Hector enters. Ellie recognizes him as Darnley. Hesione informs her he is really her husband. Although everything Hector has told Ellie is a lie, he really is brave. He has saved the lives of numerous people and has a drawer full of Prince Albert medals. He never boasts of the things he has really done.
Ellie is heartbroken. Hesione is sympathetic.
Shotover tells Mangan he is too old to marry Ellie (he is in his 50's). He also tells him that Hesione has invited him to the house in order to break up the engagement.
Ariadne has diamonds in her dressing-bag and asks Hesione for a key to the wardrobe in her room so she can lock them up.
Shotover keeps a supply of dynamite in his garden.
222. benear - Aug. 4, 1999 - 6:35 AM PT
Once alone, Hector and Ariadne tell each other how attractive they find each other. Hector kisses her "strenuously". Hesione walks in and is totally blythe. She warns Hector that no man can kiss Ariadne without falling in love with her. She also tells him she intends to seduce Mangan to end his engagement to Ellie.
Shotover enters the house with dynamite. Hesione admonishes him to not leave it lying about all over the place. Hector asks him what it is for. He says it is to kill Mangan.
Shotover and Hector have an intense conversation about the evils of capitalism.
223. benear - Aug. 4, 1999 - 6:43 AM PT
Hesione returns to tell Hector that money is running short.
Hector: Money! Where are my April dividends?
Mrs. Hushabye: Where is the snow that fell last year?
Shotover asks where the 500 Pounds are that he got for a patent on a lifeboat he invented. It is gone. As is the 12,000 Pounds he got for a ship with a magnetic keel he invented. The ship sucked up submarines.
Hesione tells Shotover that, "Living at the rate we do, you cannot afford life-saving inventions. Cant you think of something that will murder half Europe at one bang?"
and later:
Mrs. Hushabye: What about that harpoon canon?
Captain Shotover: No use. It kills whales, not men.
There is then a very funny discussion on possibly using the harpoon canon to spear the opposing side's general and reel him in. Shotover comments that generals are rather harmless. Perhaps he could use the harpoon to capture enemy artillery.
The Act ends with:
Hector: Shall I turn up the lights for you?
Captain Shotover: No. Give me deeper darkness. Money is not made in the light.
224. benear - Aug. 4, 1999 - 6:43 AM PT
Acts II and III this evening. TTFN
225. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 5:18 AM PT
Act II
The same scene, but the lights are turned up and the window curtains are drawn. It is just after an impromptu meal.
Mangan and Ellie try to come to terms.
Ellie: Mr. Mangan: we must be sensible, mustnt we? It's no use pretending that we are Romeo and Juliet. But we can get on very well together if we choose to make the best of it. Your kindness of heart will make it easy for me.
Mangan reveals that he does not have a kind heart at all. He ruined Mazzini's business on purpose, "... as a matter of business". He says, "I knew that the surest way to ruin a man who doesnt know how to handle money is to give him some."
Mangan doesn't start new businesses himself. His m.o. is to get together a group of investors to invest in the start up. He then lets novices put in all the work of starting the business. Once they run out of cash, he steps in, bails out the business for pennies on the dollar, thereby ending up owning the business for little investment of money and no investment of work.
226. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 5:24 AM PT
Ellie says she will still marry him which amazes him.
Mangan: Well, I thought you were rather particular about people's characters.
Ellie: If we women were particular about men's characters, we should never get married at all, Mr. Mangan.
Mangan reveals he is really in love with Hesione. Then Ellie reveals she is really in love with Hector.
Mangan is taken aback. He says he refuses to be "made a convenience of like this".
Ellie is contemptuous and tells him if he breaks off the engagement he will never set foot in Hesione's house again.
Mangan: You little devil, youve done me. .... Wait a bit though: youre not so cute as you think. You cant beat Boss Mangan as easy as that. Suppose I go straight to Mrs. Hushabye and tell her that youre in love with her husband.
Ellie: She knows it.
Mangan: You told her!!!
Ellie: She told me.
Mangan is defeated. Not only that but he develops a severe headache. Ellie rhythmically rubs his head and speaking softly, manages to hypnotize him.
227. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 5:30 AM PT
Ellie leaves after turning the lights down. Nurse Guiness discovers Mangan by tripping and falling on him. She thinks she has killed him.
Mazzini and Hesione try to wake him. Mazzini reveals that Ellie once hypnotized him after watching a hypnotizing performance.
Hesione and Mazzini have a long conversation about Mangan. Hesione goes on about what a capitalist brute he is. Mazzini vigorously defends him. In some ways, Shaw actually evokes sympathy for Mangan as a man. But in the process, he excoriates and perfectly describes any modern business where the bottom line is the bottom line. He could be talking about any American corporation in 1999, it rings so true.
Hesione and Mazzini end up flirting with each other. She pursuades him that it would be wrong for Ellie to marry Mangan.
228. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 5:34 AM PT
Ellie returns. She is upset with Hesione for turning her father against the marriage. They quarrel.
Hesione: minx!
Ellie: bitch!!
Hesione: miserable little matrimonial adventurer!!!
Ellie: hag!!!
They briefly make up. Ellie reveals how her broken heart over Hector has left her hard.
Hesione trys to convince Ellie not to marry Mangan. She finally resorts to the threat that if Ellie does, she will never see Hector again. Ellie then reveals her bargain with Mangan. She trumps Hesione's threat.
229. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 5:40 AM PT
They set to fighting again.
Hesione: Well, of all the impudent little fiends I ever met! Hector says there is a certain point at which the only answer you can give to a man who breaks all the rules is to knock him down. What would you say if I were to box your ears?
Ellie: [Calmly] I should pull your hair.
Hesione: [Mischievously] That wouldnt hurt me. Perhaps it comes off at night.
Ellie: [Taken aback] Oh, you dont mean to say, Hesione, that your beautiful black hair is false?
Hesione: [Patting it] Dont tell Hector. He believes in it.
Ellie: [Groaning] Oh! Even the hair that ensnared him false! Everything false!
Hesione: Pull it and try. Other women can snare men in their hair; but I can swing a baby on mine. Aha! You cant do that, Goldylocks.
230. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 5:43 AM PT
Ellie wakes Mangan. He is furious. He has only been in a trance. Fully aware of all that has been said around him, but unable to move.
Ellie is still determined to marry him.
Mangan tries to leave. He is disgusted by the way the women have treated him.
Some furniture falls upstairs. A pistol shot is heard. Mazzini calls out, "Help! A burgler! Help!"
Hector marches The Burglar into the room. All are present except Shotover. Mazzini has shot at The Burglar but only grazed his ear.
231. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 5:50 AM PT
The Burglar wants them to call the police. They refuse because they don't want to be "dragged through the horrors of a criminal court."
There is a long, funny exchange with The Burglar trying to convince them that he must pay for his crime and they all argue that he must go away. They discuss setting The Burglar up in business as a Locksmith. They negotiate but cannot arrive at mutually satisfactory terms.
The Burglar: It's (not prosecuting him) compounding a felony, you know.
Hesione: This is utterly ridiculous. Are we to be forced to prosecute a man when we dont want to?
The Burglar: Am I to be robbed of my salvation to save you the trouble of spending a day at the sessions? Is that right? Is it fair to me?
They give him a Pound and convince him to leave. As he starts to go out the door, Shotover blocks it. They recognize each other. The Burglar is Billy Dunn.
232. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 5:55 AM PT
Shotover accuses Mazzini of impersonating Billy Dunn. Mazzini responds he has done nothing of the sort.
The Burglar: he dont belong to my branch, Captain. Theres two sets in the family: the thinking Dunns and the drinking Dunns, each going their own ways. I'm a drinking Dunn: he's a thinking Dunn. But that didnt give him the right to shoot me.
It is revealed that Billy Dunn was married to Nurse Guiness at one time. Billy dismisses it since he has a wife in every port.
233. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 6:01 AM PT
After the excitement is over and Billy Dunn is sent to the kitchen, Hesione invites Mangan for a walk on the heath. Ellie tells him to go. Mangan complies but breaks down in tears as they exit.
Ellie talks of broken hearts. Ariadne assumes Ellie is talking about her and Hector. Hector accuses Ariadne of making a scene. He leaves. She runs after him. Mazzini goes to bed with a book. Ellie and Shotover are alone.
Ellie: Does nothing ever disturb you, Captain Shotover?
Shotover: Ive stood on the bridge for eighteen hours in a typhoon. Life here is stormier; but I can stand it.
Ellie: Do you think I ought to marry Mr. Mangan?
Shotover: One rock is as good as another to be wrecked on.
Ellie: I am not in love with him.
Shotover: Who said you were?
234. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 6:08 AM PT
Shotover: If youre marrying for business, you cant be too businesslike.
Ellie: Why do women always want other women's husbands?
Shotover: Why do horse-thieves prefer a horse that is broken-in to one that is wild?
Shotover: ...so look ahead.
Ellie: Well, I think I am being very prudent.
Shotover: I didn't say prudent. I said look ahead.
Ellie: Whats the difference?
Shotover: It's prudent to gain the whole world and lose your own soul. But dont forget that your soul sticks to you if you stick to it; but the world has a way of slipping through your fingers.
235. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 6:13 AM PT
Shotover and Ellie have a long debate about the soul and materialism. There is much wisdom in Shotover's "old-fashioned" arguments. He says,
"...At your age I looked for hardship, danger, horror, and death, that I might feel the life in me more intensely. I did not let the fear of death govern my life; and my reward was I had my life. You are going to let the fear of poverty govern your life; and your reward will be that you will eat, but you will not live."
Ellie comes to the realization she would rather marry Shotover.
Ellie reveals that Billy Dunn is her real father. She and Shotover go to the kitchen to talk with him.
236. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 6:17 AM PT
Randall and Hector enter as Ellie and Shotover exit.
They discuss Ariadne. Randall says that while Hastings is working 16 hour days, Ariadne amuses herself with one man after the other. Randall is in love with her and is now jealous of her attentions to Hector. Hector accuses him of jealousy but Randall denies it.
Randall: Really, Hushabye, I think a man may be allowed to be a gentleman without being accused of posing.
Hector: It is a pose like any other. In this house we know all the poses: our game is to find out the man under the pose. The man under your pose is apparently Ellie's favorite, Othello.
237. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 6:18 AM PT
Anyone who is thinking about comparisons between Shaw and Edward Albee would be on the right track.
238. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 6:22 AM PT
Hector calls Ariadne in from outdoors. He says he cannot "manage" Randall and asks for her help. He reveals that Randall has been talking about her and other men.
Ariadne reduces Randall to tears with a "torrent of words", at which point:
Ariadne: [Standing over him with triumphant contempt] Cry-baby!
She then turns to Hector and they do battle in a manner that very much resembles George and Martha in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe". They battle to a draw.
239. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 6:27 AM PT
Ariadne sends Randall to bed much as a mother would a child. In fact, she tells Hector that that is how to "manage" Randall: treat him as a child. She leaves.
Hector, more or less, taunts Randall for letting himself "be dragged about and beaten by Ariadne as a toy donkey is dragged about and beaten by a child."
Randall responds that he will punish Ariadne. He exits.
The Act ends with:
Hector: Poor wretch! Oh, women! women! women! [He lifts his fists in invocation to heaven] Fall. Fall and crush.
240. cllrdr - Aug. 5, 1999 - 6:51 AM PT
"Anyone who is thinking about comparisons between Shaw and Edward Albee would be on the right track."
True. But Shaw has a far more expansive vision of the social structure than Albee, who was deeply scarred by the upper-class family that adopted him. He's downright obsessive about them in such key works as "A Delicate Balance," "All Over," and "Three Tall Women."
BTW, I've had a peek (as I am SO behind in my reading) at Mel Gussow's new Albee bio. Looks REAL good.
241. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 7:05 AM PT
True, Shaw was overtly debating the relative merits of capitalism, socialism, and materialism with a soupcon of spirtualism thrown in. In the process he just happened to reveal some truth about the relationships between men and women, husbands and wives.
Albee does an inversion of this in WAoVW. The focus is entirely on the human relationships with a representation of the tensions of the Cold War in the background and never directly referred to.
Shotover's inventions is a very direct reference to WWI. Albee does nothing as overt.
242. benear - Aug. 5, 1999 - 7:12 AM PT
Also Shaw strives to "entertain" the audience with more than a few Wilde-like epigrams and several farcical plot elements. There is much comic relief provided by Shotover and Guiness.
Albee is not nearly so solicitous toward the comforts of his audience. In fact, Woolfe is a pretty harrowing experience for the first time viewer or reader.
243. benear - Aug. 6, 1999 - 6:09 AM PT
Act III
The scene has changed to the garden. As Hector enters, Ariadne is lying "voluptuously" in a hammock. Shotover is asleep on a garden bench with Ellie leaning "affectionately" against him. Behind them in the gloom, Hesione is strolling about with Mangan. The air is still. There is no moon.
Ariadne and Ellie speak of the beauty of the night. Hector is cross and moody.
Mangan has a "presentiment" that he is going to die.
244. benear - Aug. 6, 1999 - 6:17 AM PT
Hesione has heard "a sort of splendid drumming in the
sky. Did none of you hear it? It came from a distance and
then died away."
Mangan speculates it was just a train. Hesione thinks not.
She asks Hector what he thinks it was.
Hector: Heaven's threatening growl of disgust at us
useless futile creatures. [Fiercely] I tell you, one of two
things must happen. Either out of that darkness some new
creation will come to supplant us as we have supplanted
the animals, or the heavens will fall in thunder and destroy
us.
245. benear - Aug. 6, 1999 - 6:21 AM PT
They discuss the house. Ariadne says the only thing needed to "fix" the house is horses. They have been unable to rent the house out, she continues, because it doesn't have a stable. Ariadne says, "There are only two classes in good society in England: the equestrian classes and the neurotic classes."
Shotover states that a ship is "the horse of the sea".
246. benear - Aug. 6, 1999 - 6:27 AM PT
Hesione openly invites everyone to discuss how much money Mangan has and whether Ellie should marry him for his money. Mangan is flabergasted. They goad him to tell them how much he has.
He says he has none. He has no factories or businesses. He lives on "Travelling expenses. And a trifle of a commission." The factories and businesses are owned by syndicates and shareholders. Mangan just manages the financial aspects of them while Mazzini handles the workforces and day-to-day operations.
Ariadne tells Mangan he should go into politics. Mangan reveals he already has. He was asked by the Prime Minister to head a "great public department". They ask if he is a Conservative or a Liberal. He replies that he is neither; he is a businessman. He is helping to run the government like a business in order to save the country. He asks who else will save the country, if not him.
Hector?
Randall?
Hesione says she cares not who runs the government as long as women rule men.
247. benear - Aug. 6, 1999 - 6:37 AM PT
Ellie then says, "There seems to be nothing real in the world except my father and Shakespear. Marcus's tigers are false; Mr. Mangan's millions are false' there is nothing really strong and true about Hesione but her beautiful black hair; and Lady Utterword's is too pretty to be real. The one thing that was left to me was the Captain's seventh degree of concentration; and that turns out to
be ----
Shotover: Rum.
248. benear - Aug. 6, 1999 - 6:42 AM PT
Mangan begins to tear off his coat. He says they should all strip naked. Since they have stipped themselves "morally naked", they might as well be physically naked too. He says women dying their hair and men drinking rum is human nature. However, telling everyone about it is not human nature. "How are we to have any self-respect if we dont keep it up that were better than we really are?"
Ellie reveals she never intended to marry Mangan. She says she, "only wanted to feel my strengh: to know that you could not escape if I chose to take you."
She then reveals she married Shotover "in heaven" a half hour previously.
249. benear - Aug. 6, 1999 - 6:47 AM PT
They continue to badger Mangan, accusing him of being neither rich nor poor, neither honest nor dishonest.
Mangan: There you go again. Ever since I came into this silly house I have been made to look like a fool, though I'm as good a man in this house as in the city.
Ellie: [Musically] Yes: this silly house, this strangely happy house, this agonizing house, this house without foundations. I shall call it Heartbreak House.
Hector: Do you accept that name for your house?
Shotover: It is not my house: it is only my kennel.
Hector: We have been too long here. We do not live in this house: we haunt it.
250. benear - Aug. 6, 1999 - 6:56 AM PT
Ariadne: ....the place may be Heartbreak House to you, Miss Dunn, and to this gentleman from the city who seems to have so little self-control; but to me it is only a very ill-regulated and rather untidy villa without any stables.
Hector: Inhabited by-----?
Ellie: A crazy old sea captain and a young singer who adores him.
Hesione: A sluttish female, trying to stave off a double chin and an elderly spread, vainly wooing a born soldier of freedom.
(In their flirtation in Act II, Hesione actually tried to seduce Mazzini, but he resisted her advances; the only man ever to do so.)
Mangan: A member of His Majesty's Government that everybody sets down as a nincompoop: dont forget him, Lady Utterword.
Ariadne: And a very fascinating gentleman whose chief occupation is to be married to my sister.
Hector: All heartbroken imbeciles.
251. benear - Aug. 6, 1999 - 7:07 AM PT
They have a long conversation on where all this is leading. What is the meaning of life?
Hector: And this ship we are all in? This soul's prison we call England?
Shotover: The captain is in his bunk, drinking bottled ditch-water; and the crew is gambling in the forecastle. She will strike and sink and split. Do you think the laws of God will be suspended in favor of England because you were born in it?
[A dull distant explosion is heard]
[The light goes out]
252. benear - Aug. 6, 1999 - 7:13 AM PT
Nurse Guiness runs in and says that the police have telephoned and said that they would be summoned if they did not put the lights out. The light can be seen for miles. She also says that the rectory is now nothing but a heap of bricks.
Hector defiantly turns the light back on.
[Another and louder explosion is heard]
Hesione runs in panting and saying,
"Did you hear the explosions? And the sound in the sky: it's splendid: it's like an orchestra: it's like Beethoven.
Ellie: By thunder, Hesione: it is Beethoven.
Hector goes into the house, turns on all the lights and opens all the window curtains.
253. benear - Aug. 6, 1999 - 7:18 AM PT
Mangan and The Burglar run and hide in the cave in the gravel pit with the dynamite. Everyone else is in the open refusing to go down into the cellar for various reasons. For example, Ariadne refuses to hide in the cellar "with the servants".
They discuss setting the house on fire to make it even more visible but Hector decides it would not be ready in time.
[A terrific explosion shakes the earth. They reel back into their seats, or clutch the nearest support. They hear the falling of the shattered glass from the windows.]
254. benear - Aug. 6, 1999 - 7:24 AM PT
The bomb has fallen on the gravel pit. The next explosion is more distant.
Hesione: [Relaxing her grip] Oh! They have passed us.
Ariadne: The danger is over, Randall. Go to bed.
Shotover: Turn in, all hands. The ship is safe.
Ellie: [Disappointedly] Safe!
Hector: [Disgustedly] Yes, safe. And how damnably dull the world has become again suddenly.
Mazzini: I was quite wrong, after all. It is we who have survived; and Mangan and the burglar----
Hector: ---the two burglars----
Ariadne: ---the two practical men of business----
Mazzini: ---both gone. And the poor clergyman will have to get a new house.
Hesione: But what a glorious experience! I hope theyll come again tomorrow night.
Ellie: Oh, I hope so.
The End.
255. benear - Aug. 6, 1999 - 7:33 AM PT
It has been several years since I last read this play. Over the past week, I was particularly struck by two things. First, Shaw's description of corporations was specifically reflective of an era where there were just a few wealthy owners and a vast population of lower class labor. The aristocracy, lazy and unoccupied, was rapidly giving way to the industrious middle class of what we would today call white collar managers and shareholders.
Corporations evolved by the 50's to be rather benevolent. Labor was organized and was able to look out for itself. The white collar workers were part of the corporate "family" and did not have to worry about layoffs.
Corporations further evolved into what we have today. Although labor is less organized, the marketplace is taking care of them in the current economic environment. However Shaw's description of an uncareing, exploitative corporation is again revelant from the white collar point of view.
256. benear - Aug. 6, 1999 - 7:39 AM PT
Second, Shaw's description of politics although intended to be reflective of his day is now a perfect description of what we see today. Increasingly political ideology (Conservative vs. Liberal) is facile and politicians talk like businessmen. Is Clinton Liberal or Conservative? In many ways he is not. He is Clinton, Inc. An entity whose purpose is self perpetuation.
257. cllrdr - Aug. 6, 1999 - 3:47 PM PT
Corporations are exploitative from any number of points of view. The difference is they can't be viewed from the top down. Their connections permeate society far more than the actions of the Robber Barons and Plutocrats of yore.
Consider Bill Gates, for instance. (A terrifying thought, I know.)
258. benear - Aug. 9, 1999 - 6:28 AM PT
I'm not sure I understand your point, Celler. Are you saying that Bill Gates has more influence over the everyday lives of individuals than did John D. Rockefeller?
One final observation before leaving "Heartbreak House": Shaw performed a rather remarkable feat in this play. It starts out realistic. He used over 750 words to describe the set. So, the play begins very rooted in time and in place. Even though the room looks like the deck of a ship, it is still believably real. Why wouldn't an eccentric old sea captain have his house built to resemble a ship?
The characters also start out realistic. They are very recognizable as individuals. In a few deft strokes, Shaw individualized each one of them.
Then something strange happens. The characters evolve and the play evolves. At the end, the ship really is a ship of sorts. It represents the Ship of State, if you will. No longer is time and place so set. The play has become very symbolic if not downright expressionistic.
By the final curtain, the characters are also symbolic if not archetypical. They evolve from being individuals to being representative of something far larger: all of humankind.
259. benear - Aug. 9, 1999 - 6:31 AM PT
Today I will begin discussion of Chekhov. Next up on my agenda is Maxim Gorki and "The Lower Depths". I will try to get to that by Friday.
260. cllrdr - Aug. 9, 1999 - 6:36 AM PT
"Are you saying that Bill Gates has more influence over the everyday lives of individuals than did John D. Rockefeller?"
In some ways, yes.
By the way, b, have you read Gore Vidal's essay on "Heartbreak House"? I was looking through my copy of "Hommage to Daniel Shays" (Random House, 1972) the other night (looking for something else) and stumbled across it.
261. benear - Aug. 9, 1999 - 7:17 AM PT
Haven't seen the Vidal essay. What's he say?
I suppose the modern CEO's of the Fortune 500 companies have a great deal of influence in politics (directly and indirectly). And, we all suffer as a result (healthcare being but one example). And I do curse Bill Gates every time Microsoft Office does something weird. (Today I have already done battle with a table in Word. The table won.) However, I am still missing something. I'm not sure Bill Gates has more influence in Washington D.C. than did Rockefeller.
Mangan was more of a CFO and Mazzini the Chief Operating Officer. CFO's do have more impact on the day to day lives of individuals than does the CEO. The company I used to work for had layoffs like clockwork every quarter. The sole reason was to adjust the costs of administration and selling so the bottom line would meet stock analyst expectations. After the end of the Quarter passed, they would hire new people in order to get the work done. You can imagine the effect on morale. It was this sort of heartlessness that Shaw described perfectly.
262. cllrdr - Aug. 9, 1999 - 7:34 AM PT
Can't easily summarize Vidal's thoughts. The piece was originally written for "The Reporter" in 1959 when the play was getting a full-scale revival on Broadway with Maurice Evans, Diana Wynard and Pamela Brown, directed by Harold Clurman. He likes Shaw enormously, and greatly admires the play but admits that "at the play's end, I found myself entirely confused to what Shaw intended."
263. benear - Aug. 9, 1999 - 7:47 AM PT
It is very clear to me that Shaw intended a dipiction of the old social order, ruled by the aristocrats, giving way to the new social order ruled by the bureaucrats and industrialists. He was, no doubt, ambivalent in wondering if the new order was any better than the old. This stems from his socialist leanings. And all this wrapped up in a strong anti-war message.
Vidal, too literal? Who woulda thunk it?
264. benear - Aug. 9, 1999 - 8:57 AM PT
Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)
Chekhov was the son of an ex-serf. He poured his experiences into numerous realistic stories about rural and small town life. He became a physician and practiced medicine among the peasants, often without charging a fee. He suffered from ill health as a result of contracting tuberculosis while studying at the University of Moscow.
Chekhov was a very gentle man and to some, disconcertingly simple. Tolstoy loved him and treated him with tenderness. Gorki admired him and wrote in his "Reminiscences", "I think that in Anton Chekhov's presence everyone involuntarily felt in himself a desire to be simple, more truthful, more one's self."
265. benear - Aug. 9, 1999 - 9:01 AM PT
Chekhov found story writing to be a lucrative profession. He published his first collection in 1886 and won the Pushkin Prize. As early as 1884, he wrote his first and only serious one-act play, "On the High Road", a poignant dipiction of devastated souls.
His short stories made him famous. There are few of the more than a thousand stories that reveal any interest in action and plot. Therefore, it is somewhat difficult to understand that Chekhov became one of the greatest playwrites of the modern world.
266. benear - Aug. 9, 1999 - 9:06 AM PT
At times, Chekhov himself found it difficult to believe that he could have any serious relationship with the theater. He had a retiring disposition and detested all self-dramatization and exhibitionism. He declared once that he regarded the narrative form as "a lawful wife" and the drama as "a showy, noisy, impertinent, and tiresome mistress". He once advised a friend, "Don't write a single line for the theater unless it is a thousand miles away from you."
In spite of these feelings, Chekhov was enchanted with the stage from his boyhood on. He became the Moscow Art Theater's favorite dramatist. He also fell in love with Olga Knipper, a fine actress, and married her two years before he died.
267. benear - Aug. 9, 1999 - 9:13 AM PT
In 1887, Chekhov completed his first full-length play, "Ivanov", the tragedy of a Hamlet of the provinces whose unconventional marriage proved a failure. The play also failed miserably at first, but was later carried to success by a popular actor at the St. Petersburg Imperial Theater.
Chekhov then worked for an entire year (1888-1889) on a play unsuccessfully produced under the title of "The Wood Demon". This play was later revised and published as "Uncle Vanya".
Putting what was to become "Uncle Vanya" aside as a failure, Chekhov then wrote only one act farces several of which-----"The Boor" (1888), "The Proposal" and "The Wedding" (1889)---are still played today.
268. benear - Aug. 9, 1999 - 9:20 AM PT
Except for a unfinished melodrama about a provincial Don Juan, Chekhov refrained from serious playwriting for six years. Then came the disaterous fate of "The Sea Gull" at the St. Petersburg Alexandrinsky Theater in 1896. Chekhov left the theater before the curtain fell, vowing to never write plays again. "Never will I write these plays or try to produce them, not if I live to be 700 years old," he wrote.
Fortunately for the world, the Moscow Art Theater was able to pursuade him to reconsider. He allowed Stanislavsky and Dantchenko to revive "The Sea Gull". Both Chekhov and the new actors company were saved by the premier of the revival on December 17, 1898.
In a letter describing the triumph, Dantchenko asked Chekhov for "Uncle Vanya". There was a dispute with a rival company over the play, but it was produced with great success on October 26, 1899 and, thereafter, the Moscow Art Theater and Chekhov never parted.
269. benear - Aug. 9, 1999 - 9:23 AM PT
He wrote "The Three Sisters" with special attention to the talents of certain of the Art Theater's members and the production on January 31, 1901, was, in Dantchenko's opinion the best ever given by the Art Theater.
Then, on January 17, 1904, came "The Cherry Orchard", Chekhov's last as well as his greatest play. He succumbed to tuberculosis at a German health resort in July.
270. benear - Aug. 9, 1999 - 9:29 AM PT
In "Ivanov", Chekhov dramatized the failure of a morbid individual with considerable feeling and insight. In "The Sea Gull", which he called "A Comedy", he added a lyric component, using evocative atmosphere, the device of a play within a play, and delicate symbolism to dramatize the failures of a girl with theatrical ambitions and of a young author who strives to create literature out of his unhappiness as a son and lover.
In "Uncle Vanya", Chekhov wrote a touching antiheroic drama of wasted lives. The search for happiness was also dramatized with great vitality in "The Three Sisters". Here, Chekhov's writing deepened and became affirmative through the resolve of his unhappy characters to dedicate themselves to a fruitful way of life even if they themselves were not to enjoy any of the fruits.
271. cllrdr - Aug. 9, 1999 - 9:36 AM PT
The Actors Studio staged a revival of "The Three Sisters" back in the mid-60's with Kim Stanley and I think Jane Fonda.I forget who else. Anyway there was a scene requiring them to eat something onstage so cast members were asked what they wanted, and Kim Stanley said "Chili. Good ol' Texas chili!"
272. benear - Aug. 9, 1999 - 9:37 AM PT
Finally, in "The Cherry Orchard", Chekhov broke the impasse of his customary social situation of upper-class decadence by representing a change in society and giving the play a forward direction. If "The Cherry Orchard" may be construed as an argument for a new order in Russia, at the time on the eve of the Revolution of 1905, the play is also a universal drama of destiny.
It speaks for all orders that are fated to pass away, for the humanity that suffers in the course of the transition, and for all individuals whose capacity for adaptation to new conditions is undeveloped.
Chekhov maintained a sensitive balance between regret for the loss of old values and jubilation over the dawn of a new day. Through the quality of detachment, he was able to hold in equilibrium pathos and humor and to give a probing account of the contradictions of human character.
273. benear - Aug. 9, 1999 - 9:43 AM PT
Funny Anecdote, Clldr.
In "The Cherry Orchard" we find the epitome of Chekhov's artful artlessness in presenting the flow and commingling of lives. The characters are often directionless and so absorbed in themselves that they are unaware of the trend of a conversation or a situation.
Chekhov makes drama out of scattered fragments of human reality. Because of this quality, his technique has been designated as "centrifugal:. Since people's lives meet only to fly apart or fly apart only to meet, since they cross and recross one another's orbits, Chekhov's method of creating dramatic experience has been aptly called "contrapuntal".
274. benear - Aug. 9, 1999 - 10:58 AM PT
By creating a new kind of catastrophe, Chekhov, almost single-handedly, introduced into the theater a drama of attrition. Instead of showing noble people as eventfully destroyed, he generally represented them as being eroded. Both "Uncle Vanya" and "The Three Sisters" provide supreme examples, and attrition is also the fate of the gentry in "The Cherry Orchard". The dispersed family has no future, for there is no reason to believe that its members will make a successful adaptation to reality.
The effect, however, is not depressing. The axes that fell the trees of the cherry orchard are clearing the ground for more vital, if less refined, men and women. The summer bungalows will accomodate people who make civilization instead of parasitically living on it.
Stanislavsky found Chekhov's plays fundamentally "positive" and rejected the view that they were the elegies of a world weary man.
275. allaneq - Aug. 9, 1999 - 5:14 PM PT
Existing Fraygrants;
We would like to invite you to try the new Fray, currently available in beta here. You should notice some significant changes, and we encourage you to read the FAQ available in the Fray Beta thread, if you have any questions. Over the long-term, Slate is working to provide a way let our readers provide feedback to the editors, and to build more of a sense of community among our readers. We hope that the newly redesigned Fray is a step in that direction.
You'll notice that the new Fray is structured around Slate itself, with a thread per department. After the beta is complete, you will be able to easily post feedback to an article, using a simple link at the bottom of each page. As the reader comment is added to each department's thread, we will select the best posts from each thread in the Fray and posting links to them at the bottom of the article itself, for other Slate readers to peruse and comment on. We have also made a Tech Support thread available here, and during the beta test, you can post your comments, complaints, or bug reports in our beta test thread, available here. Take a look around, test the waters, and let us know what you think.
Thanks,
Wes Miller
Program Manager
Slate Magazine
276. benear - Aug. 10, 1999 - 5:33 AM PT
Gee, I wonder which "department" this thread fits into.
277. benear - Aug. 10, 1999 - 8:35 AM PT
The Cherry Orchard
A Comedy
Characters
Madame Ranevsky (Lyubov Andreyevna), the owner of the cherry orchard
Anya, her daughter, aged 17
Varya, her adopted daughter, aged 24
Gaev (Leonid Andreyevitch), brother of Madame Ranevsky
Lopahin (Yermolay Alexeyevitch), a merchant
Trofimov (Pyotr Sergeyevitch), a student
Semyonov-Pishtchik, a landowner
Charlotta Ivanovna, a governess
Epihodov (Semyon Pontaleyevitch), a clerk
Dunyasha, a maid
Firs, an old valet, aged 87
Yasha, a young valet
A Wayfarer
The Station Master
A Post-Office Clerk
Visitors, Servants
The action takes place on the estate of Madame Ranevsky
278. ChristinO - Aug. 10, 1999 - 11:13 AM PT
Sorry to interrupt, but with the death of the Fray I wanted to get this out there: I am now registered at both Suite101 and Salon's Table Talk as ChristinO.
You can reach me by e-mail at Cocuddehy@hotmail.com.
I will likely be changing my log-in ID and e-mail address but I'll let folks know before I do it.
I'll be around here until the bitter end to see everybody, but I look forward to romping with you all in other pastures in the near future and just wanted to let everyone know where I was.
279. Rivendell - Aug. 11, 1999 - 11:05 AM PT
benear,
Thank you for the tremendous amount of work you have put into this thread. I am normally away from internet-type communication during the summer and had planned to join this discussion at the end of August when the new school year started. Oh well for that.
Please let me know if you plan to continue it in another forum. I can be reached through a number of other Fraygrants such as Christin, Diva, MsIt or Irving. My public e-mail address is imladris_96@hotmail.com
280. benear - Aug. 11, 1999 - 4:50 PM PT
Riv: Thanks. I have decamped to Table Talk where I am posting as Phoenix Rising (a reference to my beloved Atlanta). As for reviving this discussion, It became rather moribund with only Celler offering consistent support. So, I actually welcome the demise of The Forum Formerly Known as The Fray (TFFKaTF) because it gives me an excuse to cut short what has essentially become a monologue. But who knows? Table Talk is full of idiosyncratic threads. I hope to see you there.
281. arkymalarky - Aug. 11, 1999 - 7:46 PM PT
I've enjoyed lurking here, Benear. This summer turned out not to be what I'd hoped wrt time to participate in the Fray (do you think maybe that's why they killed it?), but your presentation was excellent and I hope they archive this thread because I will possibly teach one or two of these plays in the future. I hope to get to talk with you in TT or elsewhere.
282. benear - Aug. 11, 1999 - 8:42 PM PT
Thanks, Ark M. Please check out Table Talk. I will always be willing to discuss this subject. We were no where near my true favorites: Miller, Williams, Albee.
283. Rivendell - Aug. 12, 1999 - 8:22 AM PT
benear,
I shall look for Phoenix Rising then. And your true favorites are Miller, Williams and Albee? It's too bad this couldn't have held out until I had more time at then end of the month. I like Williams too, but that may be because his plays are so much fun when it comes to designing the lighting.
I'd have been willing to go a few rounds over Miller and Albee though. Miller couldn't make up his mind in Death of a Salesman and Albee abuses the audience in ...Virginia Woolf. But I'll save it for TT.
Mrs. Riv and I will be seeing a production of ...Virginia Woolf this spring at the repertory theatre here in St. Louis.