Theater: Feeling Good by Feeling Bad

"Share the guilt" seems to be the theatrical slogan of the hour. The Man in the Glass Booth asks playgoers to share guilt for the massacre of the Jews. The Great White Hope asks playgoers to share guilt for the oppression of the Negro. Both are dramas of contrition with little internal life; they would scarcely stir, except for the borrowed adrenaline of newspaper headlines, past history, and the emotional sympathies of the already converted. For the price of a mea culpa, the audience is made to feel good by feeling bad.

The Great...

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