Mama's first critique

Mama's Critique of BELLEVILLE

I went to see Belleville on the advice of my daughter Rachel. Belleville is described as a Hitchcock type of play in the review, but that was not quite what I experienced. The only Hitchcock aspect is that the play takes many twists and turns, and one won’t be able to guess how it unfolds from the first scene.

Things I liked. The dialogue was so realistic and authentic. It seemed as if the actors were just naturally
speaking to one another. The play reveals powerful stories of how this couple seemed to communicate
at times, but at other times they didn’t communicate at all. To me, the story was about, how sometimes
relationships are based on what we want the other person to be, rather than on what they really are.
I also liked the brutal honesty that they displayed in some scenes, regardless of how hurtful the words
might be.

Things I wasn’t sure if I liked. There was quite a bit of semi nudity that I found a little uncomfortable.
Maybe I projected my worry, that if my daughter were half clothed, would I be able to handle it. There
were themes that dealt with drugs and alcohol, smoking pot, and porn. As someone from the baby
boomer generation, I’m not always comfortable with these things especially when done in excess,
although I would be naïve to think that these activities are uncommon.

Would I recommend this play? To my friends in their 50’s and 60’s---yes. To people in their 20’s, 30’s,
and 40’s---yes, definitely. To my mother—probably not unless she liked things that were edgy.

Was I glad I saw it? Yes, I loved 4000 miles and I think Amy Herzog is a great playwright. The actors
in Belleville were terrific and I was very moved by the play and at times even stunned. While I like to
see plays like this that are insightful, provocative and pithy, I can’t watch too many serious plays one
after another. So, I like to intersperse plays like Belleville with plays that are light, fun and feel good, even musicals.

~Mama

(Mama doesn't know how to post on the website, yet. Eventually we'll get technologically savvy enough were she can do it all by herself!)