The Little Foxes Review

The Little Foxes, though simple in its costumes and sets, was an entertaining criticism of southern society in the early 1900’s. It illuminated the inferior status of women and blacks in the South during this time period. Although there was more yelling than necessary in this play, it clearly demonstrated intra-familial tensions that result from an obsession with money. Also, the tense relations resulted from the female’s desire to escape oppression, and the male’s desire to maintain their superior status.

Although the playwright intended for the play to be set in the early 1900’s, there were still modern aspects of the play. To be honest, at times I was confused about the director’s intended time period. The diction and the accents used showed that it was from the past. They used derogatory terms, and the director’s decision to maintain these words in the play shows that racial tensions still exist today. Additionally, Leo and Zan used horses to take Marshall to the train station to return to Chicago. Horses were the main mode of transportation used in the south in the early 1900’s. Moreover, Regina was unable to join her brothers in investing in the mill without the approval of her husband since she was a woman and therefore did not have access to her husband’s money. On the other hand, there was an L.E.D. screen hanging above the staircase and in the final scene, Zan steps onto the moving platform at an airport. Also, the image of the sacrificial lamb was a modern addition. The playwright criticizes the Southern Aristocratic tradition of hunting animals for fun. Cal comments to Oscar that there are people who would eat the animals that he kills simply for fun. I believe the use of the L.E.D. screen to show the sacrificial lamb helped to show the cruelty towards the animals. After watching the sacrifice of the lamb, I wanted to become a vegetarian. These images clearly illustrate that “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

I thought the actors performed their roles very well. In the beginning of the play, Zan was innocent, and as the play progressed, she developed into an independent woman who began to assert her authority. As the play went on, she became less and less like Birdie and more and more like her mother, Regina. The character of Birdie was a realistic portrayal of a woman from an aristocratic family. She had musical talents and the actress appropriately presented Birdie as a ditzy girl. On the contrary, I personally found it hard to admire Regina as an actress since I despised her character; however, she was definitely successful in dominating the scenes and she had a remarkable presence on the stage. Still, it was impossible for her to gain the sympathy of the audience when Horace decided to leave most of his money to Zan. Regina admits that she only married Horace for his money and she lied to him when she told him she was sick so he couldn’t go near her. Ultimately, she passively watches as he has a heart attack right in front of her, which displays once and for all her self-centered nature.

The play demonstrates both the racial tensions that existed at the time and the tension between the sexes. Horace plans to leave money for Addie, but Addie reminds him that she will never actually be able to receive the money left for her. Instead, Horace leaves cash for her. Also, in order to become rich from the mill, Ben and Oscar plan to use poor whites and poor blacks and exploit them for labor. They hope to create tensions between these two groups so they will be able to use both groups as poor labor. Regina is aggressive and knows what she wants; however, she is unable to achieve her goals since she is a woman. She is eternally angry that her father left all of his money to her brothers and not to Regina.

Overall, I thought Ivan Van Hove’s production of The Little Foxes was terrific. Lillian Hellman criticizes the Southern Aristocracy, comparing them to animals, and more specifically foxes. They are willing to do anything to achieve their goals and they only think about themselves. They are aggressive and are very quick to attack and exploit other people to consume all that they hope to consume. This modern interpretation of the play shows that many problems of the early 1900’s are still apparent today, and it also presents a performance that a modern day New York City audience will be able to relate to.