Polonius: What do you read, my lord?
Hamlet: Words, words, words.
Hamlet (II, ii, 191-192)
Presuming that not all forms of entertainment suit all audiences, I have condensed my review of The Violet Hour, playing at the Bathhouse Theater from Jan 29 to Feb 21, into this handy summary.
The Venue: Venture forth from Wallingford to our fair neighbor, Green Lake, and its modest but pleasant Bathhouse Theater located on the northwest-ish lake shore. Enjoy the ample free parking and intimate (tiny) lobby. If time allows, a stroll along the lake is a salutary pre-curtain activity.
Thumbs Up: If this sounds like you, then go for it
- I believe in the importance of writers, writing, publishing, and words
- I am interested in the Jazz Age, and the lives of famous authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Time-travel is cool
- I fancy myself a bit of an intellectual
Thumbs Down: If this sounds like you, then find something else to do
- Why write about other people writing about things? Why not just write about things?
- The problems of highly-educated Princeton intellectuals do not concern me
- Enormous piles of paper stacked around a stage set give me the heebie jeebies
- Time-travel makes no sense and I don’t enjoy stories that use it as a plot device
This play has a high-strung, comic office assistant, a fresh-faced, earnest young author, a glamorous heiress, a sultry African American singer, and a decent, troubled publisher trying to do right by everybody. All capably acted and set by a talented theater company. In it, the power of words is such that they can sanction a marriage, launch a career, inspire an affair, define a life, and determine world history. The extent to which this convinces you will determine how much significance you get out of it. I’m skeptical myself, but having done a bit of writing, I know it’s mostly just words, words, words.
(Photo by Paul Bestock, courtesy of Bath House Theater)
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