Evening star., 1960-07-03

ern exposure is a portrait Of
family life. It's central
characters are a pair Of spin
ster sisters and a younger
brother. the latter of whom
has created a household crisis
by marrying a lovely young
neurotic. And. further COM
pounding this disloyalty, he
has betrayed the devoted sis
ters who have always adored
him by making a fortune
through an inexplicable
piece of personal cunning.
In mere script form, the
intlmations of this clearly are
that Miss Hellman's view of
the South remains unfiatter-
ing and unchanged. The final
proof of this, however, is to
be found in the brilliant act :
ing Of Maureen Stapleton and
Ann Revere. as the dehy-
drafted sisters. Jason Robards,
jr. as the brother, and Irene
Worth as the latter's beauti-
full mother-in-law who has
an over-active curiosity about
miscegenation.
For all the savagry of the
mood she is to attain before
the play ends, Miss Hellman
begins her play on a subdued
note and. to sharpen its
lethal edge. never loses sight
of the point that her charac-
ters are laughably absurd in
much of their behaviour.
First Act Vague
The turmoil and the
tragedy to come are rather
awkwardly written in the
first act with its oblique point
that the relations between
Julian Berniers and his sis
ters, Carrie and Anne, have
been anything but healthy.
The real He'll of ,Julian's
marriage and his sudden ar
rival on the Threshold of big
money, breaks loose when he
arrives home with his new
bride.
Sister Anne (Miss Revere)
always passive In her affec-
tion for Julian accepts the
rupture in family life with
resignation. Not Carrie miss
Stapleton). The single graft
fication she can take from
her relations with the usurp-
er of her active affection
for Julian is that the bride
is visibly a neurotic, over
sexed nitwit, so sick with in
security that Carrie can hope
to outfox her in the newt
able duel to come.
This conflict is to turn on
the mystery Of the process
by which Julian is to make
the fortune on which he
clearly has accepted a large
first installment. Patiently, he
is not smart enough to have
master-minded this deal.
Therefore, he must have a
partner. 1t is Carries pur-
pose to find the identity of
this associate, who is revealed
by the girl as a long time
adulterous companion Of Ju-
lian's and who happens to be
an octaroon married to the
towns richest business man.
With the incest, adultery
and miscegenation elements
now established in the mar
rative, Miss Hellman is dan
gerously close to parody Of
the play she set out to write.
But she is not merely too
skillful a writer to avoid this
trap, she is one daring enough
to go on from here to add
lust, greed, and finally an
Oedipus-like physical dis
figurement Of the imbecilic,
over-confident Julian.
Toys in the Attic" is clear
ly q play that requires the
most delicately controlled,
tumultuously pitched acting.
Performances Brilliant
This is brilliantly attained
in every single performance,
no more so, however, in Miss
Stapleton's blousy, unhealth-
lily affectionate Carrie than
in the cool, passive and re-
signed portrait of the other
sister by Miss Revere.
These, with Actor Robard's
imitation Of the bewildered,
pampered weakling, Julian,
offer a powerful challenge to
Miss Worth as the mother
of the bride who has calmly
rejected the whole neurotic.
mess for the peaceful COM
panionship Of her "chauf-
feur."
In his most eloquently sick
m o m e nts of inspiration,
Tennessee Williams never
wrote a more moronically
exquisite character than the
child bride, played with
touching hysteria by young
Rochelle Oliver.
The chauffeur" role,
matching in reserve and dig
nifty that managed so we'll by
Miss Worth. is played with
just the right touch of volun-
tary self-effacement by Percy
Rodriguez.
Howard Bay, a designer
visibly familiar with the ef-
fects Of termites in tropical
climates. has come up with
a haunted and haunting
house that is ideally appro-
pirate to Miss Hellman's re-
morseless play.