Icebound's dying matriarch is tight-mouthed ad a bear trap

 A family of selfish, greedy, mean-spirited rural New Englanders are the core of Icebound.  This  play by Owen Gould Davis, Jr. that received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1923 is being given a  fine revival at the tiny Metropolitan Playhouse.  As  the play opens  the family is gathered at the deathbed  of  its  wealthy matriarch, eager to  claim their share of her estate, but without a clue as to 
 A family of selfish, greedy, mean-spirited rural New Englanders are the core of Icebound.  This  play by Owen Gould Davis, Jr. that received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1923 is being given a  fine revival at the tiny Metropolitan Playhouse.  As  the play opens  the family is gathered at the deathbed  of  its  wealthy matriarch, eager to  claim their share of her estate, but without a clue as to  what to expect. 

As  her eldest son explains   she's as tight-mouthed as a bear trap.

Here's a link to the full review   www.curtainup.com/icebound14.html

a simile trom #ivo Van Hove's latest at #New York Theatre Workshop

Ivo van Hove's   ingenious  stage concept  for Ingmar Bergman's   classic film about  the difficulties of  marriage,  stays true to the original  plot,  which includes  a  touching scene in  the female half of the troubled couple's  law office  where  a long married woman  insists  on a divorce even  though  it's probably too late for her to find love.    She sums up her reasoning with the following simile:

I think I’m capable of love, but it’s all sealed off from me, like it’s in a locked room.

To  read my review of  this  unusual production    here's  a  
link: www.curtainup.com/scenesfromamarriageny14.html

A simile from A.R. Gurney's notes for #The Waysside Motor Inn

In its own way reading a play can be as interesting   as seeing it,  especially if  the playwright hasn't abandoned   notes as so many modern  ones have.   This was not the case  with  A. R. Gurney's  1977  play  The Wayside Motor Inn, the first of the three  presented as part of his  2014  Residency One  at the  Signature Theater Center.    The playwright undertook   a complicated   concept  in that  he  assembled   five  vignettes  and  five  pairs of   characters for  a  ight in a motel outside of Boston.  Since  the rooms all look exactly alike,   all ten actors  commingle their  stories on one set.  


Mr. Gurney's   script notes    detail  exactly  how he wants to have the audience see the first character on stage,  a traveling salesman,  settle into his room:  "From his inside pocket, he takes his address book and ballpoint pen and places them by his briefcase. Then he opens his suitcase, takes out a partially used bottle of bourbon, and places it by the ice. Then he puts his suitcase on the rack over the closet.    He then  sums  "these instruction   up with  this simile: 

He is like a hunter staking down his campsite at the end of the day.

 For more about the play,  read  my review
www.curtainup.com/waysidemotorinn14.html