Abstract

Drama
Krutch, Joseph Wood | April 4, 1934 issue

add to cart   close window

Gertrude Stein's published text is far from encouraging. Even if one does not go as far to say that her words contribute nothing to the pleasure of the production and that its success is due wholly to the music of Virgil Thompson, admirably sung by the all-African American cast. Nevertheless, much of the credit for the libretto must go to whoever broke up the continuous text into dialogue, assigned it to various characters, and conceived the engagingly appropriate non sequiturs of the action. "Four Saints in Three Acts" is a success because all its elements—the dialogue, the music, the pantomime, and the sparkling cellophane decor—go so well with one another while remaining totally irrelevant to life, logic, or common sense.

See Also:

FOUR Saints in Three Acts (Theatrical production); STEIN, Gertrude, 1874-1946; THOMPSON, Virgil; AFRICAN American actors; LIBRETTO; DRAMA
ARCHIVE HOME
Pricing
Articles are sold in 'packs,' which are priced as follows:

1 for 2.95
4 for 9.95
10 for 19.95
50 for 34.95
300 for 149.95
Refund Policy
Sales of archive individual articles, full issues or article packs are final and no refunds will be issued.
Access for libraries
help
Search
Browse
Sample Article

My Articles

You must be logged in to view your articles.

User name

Password

I don't have a login.

I forgot my user name/password.
Advertisement
Advertisement

Blogs

» The Beat

Another Helping of FDR Please | Obama should follow the New Deal president's example and make his Thanksgiving Proclamation a call for economic justice.
John Nichols
48 Comments

» Editor's Cut

Filibuster Follies | "The filibuster has become a cancer growing inside the world's greatest deliberative body."
Katrina vanden Heuvel
83 Comments

» The Notion

Bad Black Mothers | For African American women, reproduction has never been an entirely private matter.
Melissa Harris-Lacewell
95 Comments

» Act Now!

Coal Country | Stunning film reveals new dimensions to the cost of America's over-reliance on coal.
Peter Rothberg
107 Comments

» The Dreyfuss Report

A Kingdom of Bicycles No Longer | China's ambassador for climate change speaks on the eve of the Copenhagen summit meeting.
Robert Dreyfuss
58 Comments