"SING INSIDE ME, became happy. ihai'r all I am . . . I

Maggie exclaims her rensunl ioie de vivre io Quentin, ex-
pressing at once inn urgency of her need to be loved and
the iniensii‘y of her compulsion to give freely of her own

PLEADlNG FOR A RETURN of
which have long since impair
Maggie beg : “Bur Quennn ——
or something, like you used lo Io

capacity tor demonstrative attache».

QUENTIN ADDRESSES TO ml LISTENER on. oi the In '-
inmr viiul and mm penetrating mulcgeli "Wiih .I t i.
duinm, in. truth is that every morning when l awaits.

I Am full of hopnl'

shuto- by itryr Noumln um sum hum

After the FaI:

By John Wiles

The ﬁrst non-professional American produc«
tion of Arthur Miller’s After the Fall -~ a play
which “rellects the climate in all Our Souls" —
will he presented on campus this coming week-
end by the Theatre Department. The play, to be
staged Febi 22-25 in Roberts Theatre, is under the
direction of Richard D. Meyer (speech and
theatre) and student director Melinda Ward.

After Ihe Fall is, in Meyer's estimation, one
01 the decidedly “important” Works of contem-
porary American drama — although at the same

time one which ”very probably cannot be judged
within our generation" due to its own complexi-
ties and to the considerable aura of controversy
which has surrounded and, in Meyer’s opinion,
confused its reception by the American public.

Aiter the Fall, Meyer said, "reflects the two
states modern man finds himseli in now — the
shedding of Puritanism and the subsequent lack
of something to fill this internal gap.” The re
sultant onnmic question “who am 1?" character-
lzes, in Meyer’s opinion, the play’s pervasive
appeals: that oi the universal human crisis oi
identity, and that or the topical personal rele-
vance with which Miller, through Quentin, hi:
protagonist. can be seen to be “speaking to con-
temporary man . i . in contemporary terms"

The significance oi the play. Meyer said, il
manifest first, in its portrayal oi the universal
dilemma oi “a mature person who has stopped
‘becoming' " and, having reached a "rock bot-
tom" oi coniused guilt and irustratlon, ilnds that
he merely “Is" and that somehow must Iubseo
quantly resolve his liie, in his own mind; Ind
lecondly, in the perceptive representation nod
critical nnalysir oi the conditions and conﬂicts
or A recent historical period and all it: chamb-

terirtio isrum psychoanalysis. piiir, alcohol. *

A Crisis

movie stars, HUAC investigations, sex symbols,
etc.

The play's obvious characterization of the per»
sonality and psyche of Marilyn Monroe has be-
come the most well-known and, no doubt, the
most distracting element oi the play. Meyer esti-
mates, however, that once this aspect of the
play is accorded its proper dramatic and histori-
cal perspective, this characterization will also
come to be appreciated as one oi the most bril-
liant and meaningful symbols through which Mil-

,ler communicates his themes oi personal crisis

and contemporary human values and existence

Meyer’s judgment of the longtenn value poi
Atter the Fall is that the play’s extensive psycho-
logical complexities and development will insure
it a lasting appeal not unlike that oi Shake-
speare’s Hamlet. Meyer's personal reﬂection is
that “there is no question that there is more
character interior in this play than in any other
play i know oi."

Meyer’s intense interest in the play has re-
sulted primarily from the experience at his 1963-
84 sabbatical leave from Grinneil, during which
time he was employed at the newly-organized
Lincoln Center Repertory Theatre in New Yorii
as assistant to Elia Kazan, director of the origi-
nal New York production oi After the Fall. A:
directorial assistant, Meyer was intimately in-
volved in months oi evolution as the play pre-
pared ior production, as well as being a close
witness to Miller's own careful revising and
adapting oi the play

Mayor is anticipating markedly varied l'eHC‘
illons irom the audience oi the upcoming Grinnell
roduotiom in his estimation. the student-aged

rtlon oi the audience will be more likely to
irkw tho play primarily in appreciation of tho
Ilementl oi universality which, in Meyer's mind.
promise to make the play one oi lasting intense.
loci and dramatic appeal. On tho other hand.

 

