University of Virginia Library

Half-Shocked Matron

During its intermission, I overheard
one half-shocked matinee
matron say to another, disapprovingly.
"I wouldn't have thought
we'd have gotten there." She was,
of course, referring to the play. It
was not the strong language which
unsettled her, but rather the anti-Establishment
nature of the drama.

The author's depiction, in the
opening scenes, of the typical
American tourist and two cold-blooded
murders is disturbingly
true-to-life, thereby giving the
audience cause for realistic fear. It
is later that the extremely radical
and questionable views surface.
Consequently, the conventional
audience's fright turns partially into
anger. Even I consider many of Mr.
Shepard's social and political
theories to be decidedly warped.
But whoever said you have to agree
with a playwright's views?