I’ve never been a fan of Noel Coward’s Private Lives. I suppose I have found the play to simply belabor the issue. A little voice in my head starts declaring; “very well then, get on with it will you.” Don’t get me wrong, I am not immune to the charms of a well delivered; “Don’t quibble Sybil,” I just find the premise does not warrant a full length play. However, nothing was going to stand in the way of seeing Paul Gross on stage. Mr. Gross (Slings and Arrows) is a delicate actor who is a master of comedy and quite simply is dreamy. There, I’ve said it.
So it was Mr Paul Gross who got me to the Music Box to see the newest (via London’s West End and Toronto) production of Private Lives. Directed by Richard Eyre, and originating in London, the cast speaks in British accent. I found this far less distracting than did others in the audience. Mr. Gross (Elyot) and Kim Cattrall (Amanda) are clearly not British but the supporting cast; Simon Paisley Day (Victor) and Anna Madeley (Sybil) are. There is a lightness, or perhaps a gaiety to this production which I have never before seen. Ms. Cattrall plays Amanda as a lovely ephemeral good time gal. While Mr. Gross relishes his role as Elyot, giving the character subtle and overt humor. It is very easy to see why they would be besotted with each other. Yet, the actors seem to be anything but. Independently, they are quite wonderful. However, there really is no chemistry between them. Their kisses are awkward and somewhat embarrassing. Yet, even seen as interlacing monologues, their scenes are enjoyable. The production is at its best when all four actors are on stage together.
There are some technical issues with this production that left me scratching my head. This Private Lives has joined the ranks of age-blind casting. Always such a baffling endeavor in a play which announces everyone’s age. I suppose it should not be surprising today when people dress and inject themselves to remain forever young. But people in their fifties playing people who are 30 will always seem strange to me. I am not a fan of changing a playwright’s words to suit a director’s agenda. So I will have to declare this play simply miscast. There were some technical issues with the set as well. This is at least the third staging of this production, yet some of the set (Rob Howell) struck me as a bit community theatre. During intermission, two stage hands came out to the apron with a hand-held drill to dismantle the balcony. In Act II, several props pooped out and the fish tank terrified the actors (I’m guessing something very very bad had happened recently.) The canned music coming out of the piano being “played” by Mr. Gross was just bizarre. Adding to that the curtain delays and missed light cues, I was left wondering what the story was.
Ms. Cattrall does a lovely job with Amanda’s dialogue, delivering her lines on the top of her voice and also looking divine. However she is terribly uncomfortable with the physicality of the role. There is a mental metronome in her head that is very distracting to the audience: “Step two three four. Light cigarette two three four. Place glass on ledge two three four.” The “fight” scene in Act II was painful to witness.
Yet for all of these bumps in the road, of a play I don’t really care for, I am terribly pleased I had the opportunity to see Mr. Gross stake his claim to the Broadway stage.
Here She Is Boys 
The White Hood Of The Web
There have always been people crouching behind barriers and throwing stones. In an actual battle, this strategy is in fact prudent. But when the stones are being thrown at unwilling participants it is abusive, and when the abuser is shielding him/herself it is bullying. (Bullying is by definition an abuser preying on a weaker person. Hiding offers protection, exposure leaves one weaker.)
Since the dawn of time, or since there were enough people on the planet to adequately ostracize some of them; people have bullied other people. Often groups decide that someone, or groups of someones are a threat to the status quo. The group itself gives rise to an enthusiasm and sense of protection for the abusers. Persecution of women in Salem, backlashes to integration and voting rights, gay bashing; we have a rich national history of bullying, And it’s getting worse.
We are in a time of economic uncertainty, political polarization, political correctness pressure and the internet. People have not become more or less decent, they just may feel more threatened. Nothing gets the bully’s goat like threat. But what brings the simmering increase of abuse to the boiling point is the rise of technology. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and countless website comment sections, have allowed for a new form of white hood. There is a vile cocktail of exhibitionism and hatred that litters the comment sections of legitimate news outlets. For some reason web editors and/or executives are allowing their brand to be a platform for hate groups. These posters use tragically uncreative screen names to hide behind, while rabidly posting. The unsuspecting reader is affronted with spewing from people calling themselves by war criminal’s names.
I am willing to concede, that just like wildly offensive television programming, the viewer can avoid the offensive material pretty easily. But I am concerned about the news outlets sense of responsibility and integrity. Offensive and abusive comments on Facebook and Twitter can easily be blocked and ignored as well. Even bloggers can block nasty commenters with ugly agendas. But where does this leave us?
The fact that we can protect ourselves from these high tech hooded thugs, doesn’t address the real issue. Why are we allowing people to hide in plain sight. Newspapers have long made it de rigueur to only publish letters from individuals with confirmed identities. Make no mistake, I am not advocating restraints on free speech. Far from it. But surely we have the technology to expose these people? The rest of us non-software engineers, should ignore the comments (versus engaging) and not patronize sites whose management allows for this behavior. People are entitled to be as dark and hateful as they desire, but civilized societies should not allow for them to do so in disguise.
Posted by Anonymous on November 16, 2011 in Cultural Critique, Media/Marketing
Tags: blogs, Brenda Tobias, bullying, commenters, cowards, Facebook, gay bashing, hate groups, integration, internet, Newspapers, Salem witch trials, Twitter, voting rights