tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6816366806127608207.post6803089582866291340..comments2024-03-21T22:19:26.920-05:00Comments on A Follow Spot: Secrets, Lies and "The Children's Hour" at IWUJulieKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12521424567356348282noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6816366806127608207.post-37597614577475566992011-09-29T06:18:46.819-05:002011-09-29T06:18:46.819-05:00Yeah, there's that too. Another reason why the...Yeah, there's that too. Another reason why the play came to occupy an uncomfortable corner of my memory. LH felt the need to pull out an extra bit of melodrama at the end (in the tradition of "now the evil spirits are gone at last... OR ARE THEY?"), and it makes the whole thing, as you say, murky.JAChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10942256334004773509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6816366806127608207.post-1359154958964211712011-09-28T21:50:37.867-05:002011-09-28T21:50:37.867-05:00I'm not sure the message of the play was ever ...I'm not sure the message of the play was ever tolerance, because poor Martha certainly does pay for her "crime." To me, the fact that Martha really does feel "that way" makes it all very murky. So the horrid child was right, even if she had no way of knowing that. Or maybe the horrid aunt was right, even though she was being a witch to say so. I don't know. Martha's end of the play feels somewhat TA DA! to me, like it's there to make a dramatic conclusion, not so much for story sense. Poor Martha.JulieKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12521424567356348282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6816366806127608207.post-84850650799382466002011-09-28T19:07:26.611-05:002011-09-28T19:07:26.611-05:00Very interesting, Julie. I had been wondering how ...Very interesting, Julie. I had been wondering how this play would hold up in performance now. I read it when I was in high school (probably not understanding the specific social/period background very well), but haven't reread it or ever seen it performed.<br /><br />Thinking about it after seeing your preview announcement, I had been wondering if it would come off dated, or mealy-mouthed in the way of other "we must be tolerant" message plays/movies of those times (e.g. "The Ox-Bow Incident"), which continue the thought as "...because maybe they didn't do it." (If the ladies really had been lesbians, would the persecution have been justified?) It's interesting to hear that it holds up.JAChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10942256334004773509noreply@blogger.com