Third Rail Repertory Theatre
Posted by Frenchglen May 4, 2007; closes June 2, 2007
Fugard’s challenging tale of personal betrayal, fear and political exhaustion struggles hard to put down roots in Third Rail’s production. Chemistry between couple Piet and Gladys feels incomplete, somehow off key, partially owing to significant age difference. Arrival of Steve in Act Two brings welcome relief to this parched landscape.
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3 comments:
Why is everyone so mum about this show?
Thought this show was a poignant, altogether moving piece of work that left me thinking about the story (and history) for days. I found my eyes welling up with tears unexpectedly as the character Gladys fought to stay afloat. Third Rail does a phenomenal job of creating a sense of fear and despair that the characters must have felt in the state of South African apartheid. I disagree that the chemistry was lacking between Gladys and Peter. Given the state of their environment and each other's personal struggles, I'm not sure if those characters would have had much so-called "chemistry" between them. I completely understood why each was turning inward, and how the actors portrayed that was really compelling.
The arrival of Steve did bring a sense of relief (both comic and otherwise), but I think that was more because the other characters so desperately needed him to come. I didn't attribute that to the lack of performance on the others' parts one bit.
If you haven't seen this show, GO!
This show hit me. The political moments of 1960s South Africa and 2007 America certainly differ from one another, but the current sense of personal frustration that so many of us feel, right not, is foregrounded by this show. Do we not all feel that we are somehow betraying ourselves, as well as our fellows, simply to live peacefully while our nation is the wrongful aggressor, both politically and militarily, in ways that shall repercuss for our children, as well as for ourselves?
And, Gretchen Corbett broke my heart.
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