Description: The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" continues his penetrating exploration of family relationships in this powerful, poetic drama. In a large, elegant sitting room, a famous man lies dying behind a discreet hospital screen. Reporters and television crews are waiting downstairs to record the event for posterity, while gathered in the "death chamber" are the great man’s wife, mistress, son, daughter, and best friend – the family lawyer. A beautifully orchestrated play, full of reminiscences and dreams, in which the characters interact within a defined ritual society has forced them to play.
All "in" Sometimes, plays flop for a reason. Edward Albee's "All Over" appeared on Broadway for two nights in 1971 before it was rightly cancelled; the season's biggest failure.
In this repulsive drama, an unseen man lays dying a horrific death. His wife, mistress, children and best friend show hatred for each other as they talk about how much or little this fellow meant to them. The idea that a wife and mistress would hold a death vigil together is bad enough, but the spouse of 50 years is a despicable loudmouth who deserves a huge slap. The vitriol she spews at her daughter is returned in kind. The viewer just wants this misery to end and when the doctor says "All over" and the curtain falls you can just picture torn program litter and a stampede for the exits.
Don't be fooled by a famous name. The Coca-Cola folks flopped in the 80's with "New Coke," Ford had its Edsel, and after "Gilligan's Island," Sherwood Schwartz created "Dusty's Trail." Mr. Albee's ALL OVER is every one of these failures (and more) rolled into one. Brickbats to the Hartford Stage and PBS for reviving a patient that was better off dead.
BROADWAY THEATRE ARCHIVES rarely presents material such as the above. Their reissue of the 1966 TV version of Maxwell Anderson's THE STAR WAGON (with Orson Bean, Eileen Brennan and Dustin Hoffman) is absolutely marvelous, and highly recommended. (VHS edition) (DVD edition)
Albee's 1971 Meditation on Death Albee's 1971 meditation on death is a challenging work. It takes a delicate balance to bring the poetry of the text to life and to enrich the characters on stage without getting lost in the static nature of the unfolding drama. In a very quiet way, this play has as many barbs as "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" but contains only a fraction of the humor that is in "Virginia Woolf". The subject of death runs through every thread of the play and presents variations on the theme through the characters and their identities and conflicts. This 1976 television production (originally staged for the theatre by the Hartford Stage Company and taped for Connecticut Public Television) suffers from an overall stiffness in the acting ensemble and an unfortunate restraint in the approach that works against sustaining interest for the viewer but there are good performances. Myra Carter as the Mistress and Anne Lynn as the Daughter are two tall Albee women to be reckoned with.
Since it is unlikely that this play will appear on DVD again (unless a Broadway revival were to revive interest), this is a disc worth collecting if for no other reason than to enjoy Edward Albee's fascinating dialogue and to retain a production of this play.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
