University of Virginia Library

Blow Your Mind

"The Balcony" is a bizarre play
which is likely to blow your mind
in a manner similar, say, to a Fellini
film. For the most part, it takes
place in a brothel, Mme. Irma's
"house of illusions." The clientele -
many of whom could easily pass as
escapees from "Marat/Sade" -
come not merely for sexual
satisfaction, but so they can act out
their dreams, wear the costumes of
their heroes, and try to ignore the
threatening reality of a swelling
revolution outside. But reality
cannot be totally ignored; it
continually disrupts the characters'
illusions, and, as a result, by play's
end, three characters have been
killed, others have been denied the
comfort of their disguises, one has
become hopelessly lost in
self-fantasy, and really only Mme.
Irma is left intact with enough of a
hold on reality to continue
performing her function, providing
refuge for those who need it, even
if that refuge is false.

Genet interweaves several
psychological and philosophical
themes, such as man's need for
illusion to find self-respect and
significance, his quest to supersede
his designated station, and the
interdependence of good and evil.
While much of what he has to say is
not instantly obvious and often is
obscure, "The Balcony" is very
much an intellectual piece, in the
same respect that the plays of
Sartre and Beckett are statements
of philosophy first and stage
dramas second.

And herein lies my argument
against this type of theatre, which I
will reiterate here for about the
fiftieth time. Nobody is questioning
the superior intellectuality of these
authors' works. But I contend that
being a great philosopher, if you
will, and being a great playwright
are two entirely different skills.
There has to be something more
than insights into man to make a
play work. The characters have to
be multi-dimensional and we have
to be able to relate to them as
people and not merely view them as
mouthpieces for the author's
thoughts.

Too many of the characters in
"The Balcony" are one-dimensional
and do not come across as human
beings in whom we can take an
interest. And almost every scene in
the play is overwritten; Genet's
verbosity is intolerable. No matter
how much a playwright has to say,
he has to be economical, his scenes
can't run on endlessly. I think the
audience reaction on Monday night
would have been much more
positive had Genet been more
concise in his writing.