![]() The inherent narcissism we’re caught in is disturbing. It cleverly catches the audience in the same train of thought as the character, feeling that sense of relief when a plot complication is removed, even when that plot complication is the loss of someone’s life. Particularly, I found the end of Act One intriguing, when the central character Quentin accuses himself of having a relieved response when his friend dies, a friend who might drag him into the McCarthy spotlight. ![]() While it falters as a whole, “After the Fall” has some engaging segments. No doubt the experimental form could make for some interesting staging, but the play’s outsized scope and meandering focus ultimately keeps us outside of the dramatic question. The stage represents Quentin’s psyche, and characters appear as he remembers them. The central character, Quentin, is a middle-aged intellectual, who addresses an offstage listener/therapist in that annoying way that some plays/TV shows used in the 60s and 70s (e.g., "The Shadow Box"). The play is abstracted, experimental, moving away from the well-made-play form Miller excelled in, but not in a fully integrated way as we find with "Death of a Salesman." It centers on this concept of guilt that Miller constantly returns to in his plays. ![]() ![]() This play feels like an extended psychotherapy session on Arthur Miller’s relationship with women and his parents and the anxiety of the McCarthy era. ![]()
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