Thursday, August 27, 2009
Weekend Feedback: PICT deserves praise for 'History' lesson
Post Gazette: "I was perplexed by the logic of Bob Hoover's August 16 op-ed article 'Literature is Good for You,' taking the Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre to task for publishing a seven-page list of literary references in its program for 'The History Boys.' On the one hand, Mr. Hoover laments 'the deplorable state of American education,' while on the other he criticizes PICT for its efforts to improve it. He finds the references a 'self-congratulatory piece that panders ... to the educated class' and the explanations themselves 'limit, rather than free, our interpretation of the play.'"
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2 comments:
Unfortunately when I saw "The History Boys" at the PICT, they were running out of programs. Molly and I got ahold of one of them for a few minutes and the information they provided looked really interesting. One of my favorite things that they did was translate the scene that is done almost completely in french. While you could follow the actors and have a basic understand of the action, having the translation made the scene that much funnier.
I didn't see this production of History Boys, but I saw it in New York a few years ago and remember being very confused when I left. The language is somewhat dense and filled with references that our generation, nonetheless this generation in a foreign country, has no reason to know. If my playbill at the time had had a bit of a glossary, I would have been very happy.
On a second note, in England and Australia playbills are not free. When I was in Sydney this summer I saw a play which was even more confusing and full of regional slang than this one. A playbill with a little back story would have been very appreciated.
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