The Detroit tribune., 1962-10-20
Theatre
Detroit

Emperor Jones 81
Hartford Baptist

- -ftAA - ~@@~r - -
sunday AZ the Hartford Bspt s.
Church by Drama Associates
Theatre Co. II was . very unus'
raj presentation in one sense, un-
like O'Neill and like andy Brown,
il vas not so unusual Ii would
hsve been wiser for the Asscci-
aies' 20 have chosen more mo-
dern play But am sure Mr.
Rambcau and Co. were and are
aware Of this. However. II IS un
usual that Emperor Jones wasn't
rewritten Further. II Is unusual
that an actor could-or would
~ depict Jones ~ the "1'"7
tmoS & Andy-Stcphen FctchIt
idiom
The long first scene Of Jones
was generally very good The En-
peror lazy like after his sleep
and the white man SmIthers,
letting each other know how
they feel about each other we're
we'll PLAYED by both actors How
ever. in particular this laziness
should not have been allowed TO
20 beyond the first scene Scenes
two through eight were streams
OF consciousness. and they should
have been played tight and per-
sonal. as if they were his own
private worries
The part Of the Emperor was
PLAYED by Damon White And
physically he IS perfect for the
part And as stated. everything
in his first scene was above
average Barry Levine (Smithers)
played his character 10 the hilt
But don't feel Levine should
have used the cockney dialect
en- every word But he did get
the sinister qualities Of Smithers
across with well developed ST.
lister laughter
Brian McEvoy. Horace Upshaw
Alma Parks. Frank Fulton. and
Leno Jaxon were excellent.
Emperor Jones was directed
with skill and insight by David
Rambeau, one of the few Negro
directors who are constantly
With the limitations in
performers. Mr.. Ram
beau still presents good and in
teresting theatre
believe the Hartford Pro
gressive Society of which Mrs
+ J. Hawthorne IS president is
the only active group in Detroit
that presents plays for the com
The Progressive Society's
service is most valuable TO the
community and the Negro per-
formers in Detroit.
Theatre at the INSTALLED
The INSTALLED is currently
Edward Albee's Sand
box and Jules Fieffer's Crawl
ing Arnold. Both plays are short
one.acts. | didn't get anything
out Of the Albee opus. and be-
cause Of this won't make an
elaborate comment one way or
But. The Sandbox is
part of Albee's longer one-act,
The American Dream, or rather
il is an aftermath OF Dream. The
Sandbox cast is head
cd by Harvey Gotliffe, Shelia
SChurer, Paul Lowcy Ga very
good Angel of Death) and Sheila
Borovitz.
The second play of the eve.
Ming is Ficffer's Crawling Arnold
a hilarious satire on the upper
middle class. Arnold (Tcd Brown,
thirty.five-years-old crawls; crawls
because four months past good
old stork brought to his seventy
year-old parents son named
Will. Arnold, realizing that he,
at thirtydive. had no family,
could not get one, took to crawl
NJ lollipops. coloring books. etc.
in little Wills arrival SO his
father with the unusual name
Of Barry Enterprise 0iarvcy Got
life calls in psychiatrist
Miss Sympathy (Shcila Schurer(,
who sympathizes with everyone,
everything. One of Miss Sympa-
thy's satirical quibs to the maid.
Mile toni TcrrelD is: II truly
sympathizc with you and your
people out of the clear blue,
She uttcrs this. And Mile exits,
never saying a mumbling word.
Meanwhile Barry. the father,
is strung out on the Civil De-
tense bag lie has his crash he'll
met. underground air raid shell
ter for his family (and one for
ihe maid) with direct lines from
The satire is very interesting,
and enjoyable.
Both shows were directed by
Edith c. Cantor.