Theatrical epic plays out at Evergreen

Citizens not attending the dramatic catharsis at TESC missed a great theatrical epic. Not since the days of Aeschylus has such inspired tragedy been offered the public. The tragic-protagonist (President Bridges), the villain (agitators) and the victim (student body) executed an inspired performance which, for sheer drama, exceeded the best efforts of Shakespeare. Righteous indignation, virginal piety and haughty contempt were expressed in bursts of emotion not heard since the era of William Jennings Bryan.

In this supercharged atmosphere, the tragic-protagonist granted the villain his every wish, based on his prize non-sequitur — a pompous assurance that because of the great love and affection he bore the villain, he would, if need be, expend great effort to ensure his continued happiness and well-being. The verbal jousting of opposing sides, each striving mightily to open his mouth the wider and insert there-in his foot the deeper, furnished enough pathos for George Lucas to film a hit comedy, were it not in fact a tragedy.

The one redeeming interlude in this donnybrook was the calm and sensible manner in which Prof. Weinstein tried to persuade the cast members to open their collective minds to the purpose of education and responsibility and to demonstrate intelligent thinking before rushing to a climax.

When one considers the tremendous possibilities of this script and the talent available, it behooves all of us to attend future performances of this troupe. They usually perform in Red Square and it don’t cost a dime.

This story was originally published June 23, 2017 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Theatrical epic plays out at Evergreen."