Linda Purl Books

Imagine yourself a member of an audience sitting in a Greek amphitheater over 2,000 years ago, caught up in the ebb and flow of a tragic drama unfolding before you, hanging on every word proclaimed by the larger-than-life masked actors who move across the stage--now lamenting in unison, now pitted against one another in angry confrontation--and you will get a sense of what it's like to listen to this 2007 full-cast audio production of Aeschylus's tragic trilogy, The Oresteia. It is an event. An event that draws you in and holds you focused on murder and mayhem and their come-uppance. An event that marches inexorably toward a restoration of the balance in the universe.

This adaptation by Yuri Rasovsky (and under his expert direction) captures not only the characters, the story line, and the tone of this tragic sequence but also its quintessential sense of time and place. No bad deed goes unpunished--especially when it involves killing one's own family. The performances are clear and straightforward, and Rasovsky's orchestration of them brings out the themes that weave their way through all three plays of the trilogy. Never intrusive, the device of using electronic distortion to enhance several of the voices serves, among other things, to distinguish gods from mortals, and is well within the spirit of the larger-than-life masks with built-in megaphones used in Greek theater.

This Hollywood Theater of the Ear production is a thoughtful and thought-provoking, as well as enjoyable, rendition of the plays.

All told, very good version of the plays. Some may question the choice of certain actors or the choice of using distortion, most likely electronic, to enhance certain characters, but the plays do work.

The final act, The Eumenides, comes off particularly well. At the very end the chorus is sung to a marvelous melody that comes quite by surprise, providing an amazing lift to the play.

Very good version of these plays. At the very end of the trilogy, at the conclusion of The Eumenides, you will find an amazing musical rendition of the final chorus composed by John Baker.

I started looking at this a few years ago in a college class. I thought it was far-fetched and self absorbed then, and my recent viewing hasn't changed much. It is just not authentic or believable.

Arthur Miller is a play writer who used to analyze big tragedies in its particular repercussion in the lives of his characters. In his work the historical factor is very important, but for how it transforms particular lives. In his last play "Broken Glass" this is not different. The main character Sylvia Gellburg has her legs paralyzed because of the news she reads in newspapers on the Jews being murdered and humiliated in Germany.

Her physical problem affects all her family and strikes her husband, Phillip Gellburg, biggest shame: being a Jew. He has avoided mentioning it all the time, afraid of prejudice and ashamed of his people. However, when Sylvia problems surface, the man must come to terms with something he has denied his whole life. At this point, Miller is discussion not only one's identity, but also the denial of one's heritage. The two characters, Sylvia and Phillip, are the beginning and end of a specter.

Following his tradition of global and local, Miller brings to the Gellburg's home a tragedy that is happening oceans apart and reflecting in their lives. Here, the writer does not fantasize, just like Philip Roth's magnificent "The Plot Against America". Both works have the same historical background, and discuss the same theme. But while the play investigates how the event destroys one home, the novel sees a whole nation being affected.

As it is usual, Miller has populated his play with believable characters. From the dubious doctor Harry Hyman, to Sylvia's dumb sister Harriet, "Broken Glass" surfaces with regular people that could be met on the streets.

Arthur Miller's play, BROKEN GLASS is an interesting psychological mystery set in Brooklyn in 1938 . . . it is about a 45-year-old woman who suddenly loses her ability to walk . . . there is no medical reason why this is happening; the only clue lies in her growing obsession with news accounts from Germany.

What I liked most about the taped version BROKEN GLASS was the cast, which included Lawrence Pressman, Linda Purl, JoBeth Williams, and the late David Dukes (who I had really liked as an actor) . . . this work was put out by a group called L.A. Theatre Works, which features full-cast productions of complete plays . . . my only regret is that I haven't come across too many other things they've done; i.e., that are available from my local library.

"Broken Glass" is a thriller set in 1938 that personifies the fear that Hitler caused Jews in America. While this plot seems compelling, the story falls a little flat it other areas. This is far from Miller's best work.

When Sylvia suddenly looses the use of her legs, medical origins are unexpected. Yet as the story evolves, we find the cause to be psychological. It is suspected that a fear of the Nazi's treatment of Jews in Germany has caused her paralysis. However, there was something more. Sylivia has lived in a marriage with her husband Phillip that feels empty. They have not consumated their marriage in twenty years when their last child was conceived. Sylvia was raised in a family that coddled her and made her feel secure. Her marriage lacks all of the qualities of the family she was raised in. In a twist that seems out of place, Phillip suddenly dies in the last scene just as he promises to change for Sylvia. This happens just moments after she walks again.

In so many ways, this work does not seem to have the fingerprints of Arthur Miller. The characters are one dimensional and forced just for the sake of discussing one of Miller's most comfortable plots, anti-Semitism. Many of Miller's later works are disappointing. This fits that category.

I listened to an Audio CD version of the play and I regret to say that I found it unmoving. The Brooklyn accents of the characters seemed to fade in and out on occasion and they deep dark revelations about their personal lives seemed to be revealed without much emotion most of the time.

I really had high hopes for the drama but felt it was more gimmick than gripping.