Last of the Boys
Few productions are as timely as those being presented at Steppenwolf Theatre and the Goodman on the nature and purpose of war. But on this subject above all others rigor is essential–sorting truth from falsehood to prevent storytelling about war from turning into misleading mythmaking.
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But regretting the past–that it is past, that it didn’t measure up, that the present doesn’t measure up–isn’t in itself a dramatic activity. As one of Dietz’s characters observes, “News flash: time passes.” When Jamie Tyrone or Willy Loman mourns past events, he’s struggling to break free of regret and move forward. Without that struggle, mourning is mere bathos. That’s no less true because a war figures in the lamented past.
When: Through 11/13
When: Through 10/9
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/Michael Brosilow, Liz Lauren.
