The Arts in New York City

I felt that the acting was superb! I felt strongly about every single character. I hated all of the Hubbards and loved pretty much everyone else.

The Hubbards are the very definition of a dysfunctional family. I loved Bertie’s character! I loved her child-like innocence and her scatterbrained behavior. I felt so terrible for her when she told her story about meeting Oscar and falling for his transparent façade. Oscar was a misogynistic asshole. He shut down all of Bertie’s ideas and criticized everything that made her happy (ie. socializing and playing the piano). I felt bad for Leo. He is a product of his environment. All he wanted was to be accepted by his father and uncle. He was taught to behave violently by his father. Regina is a BITCH! She completely uses Horus. She took advantage of his love for her to get to his money when they were first married and doe sit again when she sends San to bring Horus back from the hospital and tells San to tell him that she [Regina] missed him.  She is selfish and as abusive as her brothers, not physically but emotionally. She uses her body and her quick wit to get exactly what she wants. Although he admits to having been a bad person in the past, Horus wants to live the last days of his life as a good person.  While he does deliberately screw with Regina, I think she deserves it. I am proud of him for relinquishing his role as her personal doormat. Zan begins the play like her Aunt Bertie: she is innocent and naïve. In the first scene she asks her mother for her first taste of port and in the last she essential tells her mother to go shove it up her ass. I think Horus is right when he tells Addie that it is better for Zan to understand what is going on around her and lose her innocence.  Once she sees the Hubbard’s for who they really are, then she’ll know it is better to leave. The scene when Zan spits in her mothers face was my favorite part of the play because I absolutely loathed Regina, more so than any of the other Hubbards. I hated Ben as soon as he opened his mouth. His cold, monotone voice reminded me of Lurch from the Adam’s family. I feel like the actor should be recruited for the next production of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I liked Addie. She was sassy. She was wise. It was like she could see through everyone.

I thought that the costumes where bland, with the exception of Bertie’s trampy red robe. The dresses were sort of ugly and the suits didn’t fit right. I understand the desire for a minimalist wardrobe, so it doesn’t take away from the play itself, but I prefer the spectacle. I like elaborate costumes and historical accuracy. I feel like it is easier for me to get into the play, the time period if people are dressed according to the time period. When I see a play, I want to become part of a different world, not see a replica of the one I am already living in.

I hated everything about the set design. I hated the ugly purple walls, floor, and ceiling. I hated the stairs in the middle of the room dividing the stage and I hated the LED screen, which was more distracting than supplementary to the performance.  I’m not sure if the carpeting was to make up for the lack of padding worn by the actors, but I just didn’t like it. The giant rectangle obstructing my view of the right side of the stage was irritating to say the least. What bothered me more that the rectangle was how it impacted the actors! While they thought they were out of sight, the actors would stand just in view, awkwardly shifting their weight from left to right waiting for their cue.

I think that realistic costumes and set add to a performance. I think if you want to go the minimalist route, you have to go all the way by having a completely empty, unremarkable space, and black boring costumes so that the actors get all of the attention. I think that the minimalistic set for Little Foxes would have been more practical if the LED screen was absent. When it comes down to it a giant television screen is more distracting than a good or elaborate costume.

The Little Foxes was mind-numbingly good. It was kind of like the tingly feeling you get when you eat pop rock candy or the sensation of cotton candy dissipating in your mouth. A sense of satisfaction that is instantaneous. This is what The Little Foxes imparted to me. Instant gratification as I watched the lights cue on, the actors walk into place, and the story beginning to unfold.

The stage was meticulously arranged but to be honest no one really cared for it. Well not me anyway. I won’t go into detail describing the flashy purple walls or the gaudy chandeliers, but the L.E.D. television was something else. Did anyone else notice this? I’m no historian but I’m sure there were no L.E.D. screens in 1907. I have to say that the half-naked Horus that appeared in the beginning was just a distraction. Don’t even get me started with the poor butchered sheep. A lot had bothered me. The director had obviously wanted to create a stark interpretation of the script, but there were several nuances that were blatantly irritating. If he was attempting to avoid the problems associated with 20^th century fashion why the heck would you need four theatrical chandeliers? See what I did there. Now I know I said the play was “good” but for all the right reasons a play is good. A strong standalone plot combined with several experienced actors. I still hated the props though.

As soon as the play began you were met with unique, and complex characters. The ambiguity behind the initial appearances of these characters is what makes the performance so enjoyable. As you approach the climax and ultimately the end it only got better. This was a strong incentive to keep you seated. That or make Professor Healey very angry. That would be a no-no. Many of the introductory characters put up a façade at first. As soon as the serious business was done, these very same people make a fool of themselves. Rolling around the lush carpeting. I immediately questioned the integrity of the Hubbard family. Acting in a peculiar fashion to mask your true intentions. Despicable! I hated these people. What I meant to say was characters but the acting was so good I almost started hating the people too.

I couldn’t help but cringe when Oscar beat Birdie. I wanted so badly to step onto the stage and beat the crap out of him. I know that sounds bad and is practically begging for a lawsuit but I was so won over by her character that I didn’t care. Hellman managed to capture my interest and win my heart over with this one. I felt like my heart was breaking alongside Birdie. The acting was already tearing me apart but it only got worse when the real “social issue” was brought up.

Lillian Hellman is a friggun genius. Not only was the play good, it emphasized the need for social reform. Throughout the play a caste system was developed. Men were placed on the top, women followed after and colored southerners were on the bottom. Hellman very easily indicated the inequality among the three. The n-bomb was thrown around like a casual saying. Women were being beaten every few minutes. Men were like financial kings hoarding all the money. I felt like I was thrown back to a time where racism still existed.

Correction* it still does.

This performance has taught me a good deal. How to restrain yourself against spiteful wife beaters. Oh and to appreciate your civil rights. This play was awesome, nuff’ said.

Why is there a man laying on a table on a LED screen right center in the middle of the set? While sitting in the audience watching Little Foxes, this question just kept running through my mind. As much as I loved the performance, I kept getting distracted by this screen. Why was this screen placed here? Was there a point to having a frozen image in the middle of the set?

I really enjoyed the overall performance of the Little Foxes, and I must say that it would be one of my favorite plays that I have ever seen, except for the fact that this LED screen just didn’t seem to make much sense tome. I absolutely loved all of the other aspects of the play. The actors did an amazing job of getting into their characters. For example, the actor who played Birdie did a phenomenal job of expressing her emotions through all of Birdies lines and actions. The actor who played the Ben did an exceptionally well job in his role. They way he conducted himself, for example the way he walked across stage with his confident stride and broad shoulders just showed how he really believed that he was the alpha male.

Okay so the actors did an amazing job, but what else did I love about this play? Well I loved the fact that the stage was so simple. The set design didn’t have too much going on. Because it was so simple I wasn’t able to get too distracted by the props that were present on stage, but instead I could focus more on the actual plot and characters. The only thing I didn’t  understand which was already mentioned is why if the set was so simple, why would there be a LED screen to draw our attention away from everything that was occurring on stage. At times I would notice that something was moving on the screen, and so I would focus on this image in anticipation that something extraordinary was going to happen, and instead the image would freeze again, and all that it had accomplished was distracting me from what was occurring on stage.

The sounds I felt did a really good job of suiting the emotion that was present within the play. The music followed the plot, in that whenever something serious or dramatic would happen there was music to express this. Another aspect of sound that was present in the play was all the screaming that was done. How could someone fall asleep during this performance? The answer is they couldn’t have. Whenever there may have been a few moments of silence, or soft spoken conversation, it would quickly come to an end with someone starting to yell and before you know it everyone was screaming again. This really helped to keep the audience awake and keep them focused. At times it kept me so awake, that whenever a scream would come I would sometimes even get scared.

When first watching the play without really understanding the plot, I was really confused about a few things. One was why they had chosen a purple wall for the set, and another thing was why everyone kept laying down and rolling around on the floor. At first I just thought that these things were extremely strange, but after careful thought and finally understanding what the play was about, I was finally able to realize that there was meaning behind these things. The purple was the color of the walls because its supposed to represent wealth, power, and luxury. Several times throughout the play you see the characters utilizing this purple wall by banging it and expressing their anger through hitting this wall. Once you understand the plot of the play, you soon realize that this is supposed to resemble the characters struggles with obtaining wealth and power. As to the characters rolling around on the ground, this could be seen as the childish aspects of the characters and how, in particular Regina, they wanted to obtain this money so that they could have their dreams come true.

Another thing that bothered me about the play was the scene on the LED screen that showed the sacrificing of the sheep. Although this may have had a purpose in the plot of the play, and definitely was bringing up a very important issue, this was an extremely powerful image that I would have preferred to not have been in the play. Since I’m very big on animal rights, this was a very hard thing for me to watch, but since the screen was placed in the center of the set, it made it very hard to not look.

Initially I thought that there was no way I would enjoy sitting in a theater while being damp from the rain, but after the play had began I found myself getting more and more interested in what was going on. I truly enjoyed the overall production, and I felt that everything was very well thought out and planned, and in the end it all payed off.

This play was absolutely one of the best I have ever seen. The staging was perfect for the play, the actors were all very connected with their characters, and the plot was intense, drawing the viewer in like a moth to a flame. No one could get enough.

The stage, when first viewed was shocking. Purple, everywhere…and I asked myself, why? Unlike most plays where the stage is a dark color, brown or black, it was bright purple, and that caught my attention the entire time. Midway through the play, I began to realize what a large role color had in the play. The purple began to symbolize wealth and the regal state of their home. Their pride and selfishness also became clear. Their were many instances when a character, out of rage, would fling his/herself against the walls or onto the floor, beating the color. At first, it may not seem like it means anything, but after careful thought, one can realize that their selfishness and greed has made them all miserable, and they are subconsciously taking their anger out on it.

Another color that stood out a lot was the color red. Whereas everyone in the play wore dull colors, mainly grays, blacks, browns and dark blues, Birdie was always wearing red. Ben, too, wore red in his tie. In the beginning, I assumed that Birdie and Ben were a married couple, because of their color coordination, but I soon learned that was not the case. And red began to be a symbol of flightiness and freedom. A desire for more than what is given. Although Regina was the more greedy of the two women, she wanted money whereas Birdie wanted happiness. Red is usually a color of energy, strength, determination and desire. Birdie uses red to stand apart from the other characters, showing the audience that she is the odd one out, the only one who doesn’t care about the money. She proves to everyone that she is stronger than they are, by resisting the temptations and corruptions of monetary agreements. Ben’s red tie, although not as noticeable as Birdie’s consistently red attire, was a call out to his power and influence over his siblings, especially Oscar. Although it is unclear which of the brothers is older, when deciding whose percentage will be lessened in order to increase Horace’s share, Ben immediately decides and overrules anything but that it will be out of Oscar’s cut.

The screen above the stage was disturbing and haunting. At the start of the play, it looks like there is a dead body, just laying there, and thoughts of who it could be and what it means swirl about in the mind until we realize that it is Horace. It later shows the horrors of what the “amazing” family company would be doing:slaughtering the lambs, gutting them, and watching the blood pour out. The screen provides an x-ray type feel to the audience, allowing us to see past what we see on stage, into other rooms and into other situations at the same moment we watch the primary scene unravel on stage. It allows us to see into Horace’s hospital room, the kitchen where the coffee pot sits, and finally, into Horace’s bedroom, where we see the fights between him and Regina, and where we also see the bond between him and his daughter.

Of all the characters, Alexandra’s was the most heart-wrenching. As a 17 year old girl, not even yet an adult, she is faced with many hardships that she must face on her own. From the very beginning she was forced to mediate between mother and father, a choice no daughter should ever have to make. She is a strong girl, and very loyal to her father. She knows the cruel intentions of her mother, and even though she is tricked at first into helping her mother, she turns her back on her and finally, at the end of the play, shows Regina that she will always love her father more because he was the one who truly cared about her.

The idea of the play, while very original, was somewhat hard to see. We see that greed is a horrible thing and can overtake any sane thoughts in one’s mind. Monetary selfishness can lead to rifts among family members. The brutality towards each “little fox” in this family came as a shock, and the audience gasped every time a character abused another. Everyone was rolling around, animalistic tendencies in everyone. In some cases, it was men hitting women, which came as a huge surprise, but was not totally unexpected. What was shocking, however was that when Ben hit Leo, Oscar just sat there and ignored it, without a care. The entire family was blinded by the thought of wealth, so blinded that they could not see what was right and what was wrong. Regina was so concerned with the possible acquisition of wealth that she did not blink, much less shed a tear when her husband passed. She once again showed little emotion at the desertion of her daughter, only concerning herself  with her upcoming move to Chicago.

Overall, the storyline was interesting and captivating. The constant battle between characters was an enticing way to keep the audience on edge, anticipating what is to come. The actors were all very in tune with their characters, and it adds a sense of realism to the play. Because of the way the characters interact with one another, the play runs smoothly and effectively encapsulates the theme intended by the author.

When I finally got into my seat looking like a drowned rat after getting lost in the Village, I hoped the play would be short so I could go home, change into comfortable pajamas and get under the covers, warm and dry.  I was surprised to find that I loved the play so much that I didn’t even mind sitting there in my uncomfortably wet clothes.

I’m a big fan of the set design- I loved the purple walls, not only because purple is my favorite color, but also because the rich, royal color was an appropriate substitute for grandiose props and set pieces.  If the walls had been white or any other color, the space would have looked plain and overwhelmingly bare. It was smart that they put the staircase centerstage because it divided the stage so it wasn’t just a huge empty room.  If the staircase had been on the side, there would have been a big chunk on the other side.  Also, the actors had to stand in front of the staircase, closer to the audience, which made it easier to see the action and was more engaging.

Usually I like lots of props and spectacle onstage so you can be fully transported and involved in the scene, but I found that the actors in Little Foxes did a superb job creating the sense of space without using props so I still felt like they were in a rich palace even though there was barely anything there.

The LED screen was confusing because if they were going for a minimalist set design then there was no need to use the LED screen.  It took me a while to even figure out what it was- at first I thought it was a portrait until Horace started to move.  It was pretty distracting because sometimes I wasn’t sure where to look- the screen or the stage?  And when they showed the clip of the sacrificial lamb- it was awful.  I don’t know what the purpose for that clip was, or what it was trying to say, but it was very disturbing and I couldn’t even watch.

It was a smart choice to choose to have modern costumes because if they had worn historically accurate clothes with fancy evening gowns and corsets, etc., the play would have had a much different feel.  Seeing the characters wearing modern clothes made it easier to understand their status and be able to relate to what was going on.  Also, the play would have been pretty comical had they been wearing historical pieces- could you imagine the women in their fancy dresses and corsets rolling around on the floor, hitting and fighting?  I don’t think I would have been able to take any of it seriously.

I especially liked the father-daughter relationship between Zan and Horace because all the other characters (aside from Bertie) were full of hatred, spite and selfishness.  But Zan and Horace really cared about each other and didn’t have any manipulative thoughts or ulterior motives.  When it was just Zan, Horace and Bertie onstage, I could see the three of them as a family.  Bertie leaned against the wall telling her Oscar story, and Horace stood over Zan, absentmindedly playing with her hair, such a simple and honest gesture of affection between father and daughter.  The three of them were able to be happy and enjoy a few peaceful moments before Regina came in screaming and ruined the fantasy.

When Bertie came running across the town square in her little red robe to see Horace foreshadowed the moment where you can picture her with Horace and Zan as a family.  She was so genuinely happy that Horace was back that she didn’t even bother to get dressed or worry about her appearance, she just ran to him.  And if that weren’t inappropriate enough, she proceeded to sit on his lap, straddling him in her little red nightie in front of all the Hubbards, including her husband and his wife!  This scene, like Bertie’s bright-red clothes, separated her from the Hubbards because she was a genuinely good person, full of life, love and happiness (wow that was corny).  She acted on impulse, which isn’t always a good thing, but her honesty was a refreshing change from the Hubbards’ calculated manipulation.

Oscar really bothered me.  He was pretty timid compared to the other Hubbards- he allowed himself to get pushed around by Ben and Regina during their power struggle.  He was too scared to stand up for himself when they decided to cut his share of the business, but he had no problem turning around and beating Bertie, who was happy, naïve and innocent.  She hadn’t done anything to him, but he hit her anyway even though he couldn’t stand up to his family.

Leo’s hair drove me crazy, and not in a good way- it kept flopping in his face!  Anyway, I felt really bad for him because he was just a product of the family he grew up in.  All he wanted was to please his father and gain his approval, but Oscar wouldn’t even give him that.

I also felt really bad for Cal-Horace left Addy 1700$, but what did Cal get?  Nothing.

Ben Hubbard kept repeating to Regina, “A woman gets more with a smile and soft words than with yelling and anger.” There was a double standard- Ben and Oscar could yell and scream, but since Regina was a woman, she shouldn’t.  At this time, the woman’s role was as her husband’s property- she couldn’t own her own property or money, which is why Regina needed to marry Horace in the first place.

Since women couldn’t have their own money, Regina relied on Horace.  It was pretty mean of him to tie her hands so she couldn’t profit from the deal.  If he truly didn’t want to participate because he was morally opposed, then he should insist they give him back his money so he plays no part in it.  Once they have his money, whether it was a loan or not, he still facilitated the deal and should have allowed Regina to profit from it, or just not told her at all. He deliberately told her about the bonds in order to break her spirit and get back at her for manipulating him his whole life.