Customer Reviews

Double Solitaire (Broadway Theatre Archive) [VHS]

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Robert Anderson 1917-2009, playwright, was 91 years old and died as a result of Alzheimer's disease. He was a brilliant writer, a master of social relationship dialogue. His most famous plays, Tea and Sympathy starred Deborah Kerr, I Never Sang For My Father, Silent Night, Lonely Night, where an adulterous lonely night takes place, and a favorite.... You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running. - four different one act comedies.

Double Solitaire (1974) is a play that has a couple, Charlie and Barbara, married 25 years who are faced with the reality of a disintegrating marriage, complete with an adulterous past, and decision to renew their vows. Charlie, played wonderfully by Richard Crenna who was 76 when he died of pancreatic cancer in 2003. Also starring as a friend, is veteran actor Harold Gould, who passed in Sept/2010 at 86.

Charlie's parents are celebrating their 50th anniversary, while they urge Charlie and Barbara to renew their vows simulataneously. Charlie, on the other hand has lost the "intensity" in his marriage; had an affair, while Barbara feels the same... what used to be, is not anymore. They both recognize a renewal of vows is not in the picture, and cannot be.

Charlie's parents have kept their marriage intact by doing what they believe they are supposed to do to keep a marriage going, the superficial things. Charlie's son, young, in love, and not married, is an illusionist to reality; he does not want to be where his parents are. The son believes "that isn't going to happen to us", so, he remains unmarried to make sure not to experience a loveless relationship.

You will learn the many stages and variations that love and marriage reveal through various voices. The writing is brilliant. And, interestingly, the story remains the same, different time, same problems......Rizzo

Moody and slow dramatic think-piece concerning the state of marriage looks and sounds very much like an afternoon soap opera. A couple, (Richard Crenna and Susan Clark), realize the futility of their marriage when asked by his parents to renew their vows during the elder couple's anniversary. Maybe not the most encouraging words to say about the institution of marriage, but most viewers will recognize the serious nature of commitment to love. Crenna and Clark are fascinating as a couple who see each other almost as strangers after years of marriage. A Broadway Theatre Archive DVD.

First, I'll start by saying this was a very interesting play. Although the copy I got was not so wonderful, as VHS is outdated on so many levels and it obstructs the quality of the video itself, I was still able to get the idea and the meaning of the play very well. The Broadway Theatre Archive seems to outdo itself with putting plays on video for those of us who can't go see them, but enjoy theatre none the less.

Now to the actual play: I thought that it was well acted for the most part and the characters really lend something to the character when they're given the chance. The story is of a couple who have been married for many years and when asked if they will renew their vows alongside their parents, they contemplate the idea. They do little talking through most of the play (none to each other until the end) and I don't like the idea of the main characters showing less emotion than do the supporting characters. The actors who play the married couple resign themselves to a silence that is boring and annoying to watch. They do nothing until the end, when they blow up at each other.

I ask myself if it's possible to do a play about the futility of fighting about marriage and then come to the conclusion that there is no conclusion. Nothing is solved, nothing is gained. The couple resigns themselves to a superficial closeness that comes from sex, unable to combat the growing distance between them. If that is what the writers and directors were going for, they suceeded in a dull, if not grotesquely silent way, and then by that standard, by all means, see the play. Just be prepared to face the frustrating lack of life, spirit, and eagerness that should have come with the turmoil these characters felt. Even people who have fallen out of love have more passion in their lack of love than these characters had. It's a pity, because it could have been great. In fact, save time and sit by yourself -- not talking. It's the same thing.