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Article: Absent Friends. (Manhattan Theatre Club, New York)
- Article from:
- The Nation
- Article date:
- April 8, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 The Nation Company L.P. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Absent Friends (1974), at the Manhattan Theatre Club (technically not Broadway, but just around the corner), is the older of the two and conceptually the more modest. Its story hinges on the visit, after a long absence, of Colin, the recently bereaved member of a small coven of suburbanites whom the years have turned rancid. Colin is a monster of positive thinking and smarminess and bullies his old chums into exhuming the delusions of their youth, until one of them finally cracks. It's The Iceman Cometh in reverse, with, instead of Bowery bums, five twitty Brits getting their noses rubbed in the terrible truth. Peter Frechette as Colin can't help but steal the show, and ...