|
|
Article: PRODUCTION A `DELICATE BALANCE' OF DREADFUL CHARACTERS, EXCELLENT ACTING.(Life and Arts)(Review)
- Article from:
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- Article date:
- January 26, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. 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)
|
According to Jean-Paul Sartre, "Hell is other people." He demonstrated his theory in 1944 with a one-act play. That play, "No Exit," has three characters and takes a little more than an hour to perform.
In 1966, Edward Albee expanded Sartre's theory. In Albee's play "A Delicate Balance," hell is still other people. But now there are six of them. They spread themselves out over three acts. Their damnation lasts nearly three hours. Also, Albee expands the dimensions of hell. The torment is no longer confined to a stage on which fictional characters distress one another. Albee's hell spills out into the auditorium. The playwright, his characters and his story ...