Customer Reviews

The Last Night of Ballyhoo

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Alfred Uhry's stunning play, "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" achieves two major accomplishments: it examines the timeless issue of biggotry (even within one's own minority group)and delivers it in a gift wrapped package which looks, feels and sounds like a good old fashioned Broadway play. Like "Driving Miss Daisy," Uhry examines the peculiarities in the lives of Southern Jews, drawing a great deal of humor from the "fish out of water" theme that seems to plague his lovable and ultimately loving family. Set against the darker backdrop of Americans in 1939 speculating what Hitler may or may not do in Europe, the characters in Ballyhoo dance with and around one another as they struggle for acceptance within their own community. Issues of racism are raised when the Jewish characters try to delineate the idea of "us" and "them" within the confines of Jewish society in Atlanta and other prominent Southern cities. Ultimately, Uhry shows us (as in "Miss Daisy") that there is no "us" v. "them," there is simply "us." That may sound overly simplistic, but Uhry's points stay with us long after the play is finished. That is the sign of a playwright who is a true craftsman. Would you like to see how a good play is constructed? Then pick up "The Last Night of Ballyhoo."

The Last Night of Ballyhoo is a powerful piece of drama. We see this powerful genius in its ability to draw laughter and tears from an audience in a single dizzy breath: who can forget Lala's burst of kleptomania, or Sunny's candle-lit Shabbat prayer in the final scene? I was blessed to take part in a community theater production of this play as Lala Levy; as a result of this opportunity, I and the cast came to know intimately the characters of Ballyhoo, and through them we lived the larger whole. From an actress' point of view I can tell you that the striking beauty, quick wit, and profound themes of this play can scarce be rivaled. However, whether one approaches this play as a reader, audience member, or actor, one will become more sensitized to the prejudices that ever haunt our race - the fear of "the other kind," be they separated from us by "the Elbe" or some less tangible distinction. Along with the characters of Ballyhoo we discover anew that there is no "us" and "them" - only "us."

Alfred Uhry strikes again with his second work examining racism and anti-semitism in the American South. In a clever twist, the playwright focuses on the prejudice of Jews of German decent against "the other kind" meaning Jews of Slavic decent. This infinitesimally subtle difference in ethnicity represents a world of difference in Southern Jewish society.

Exploiting the significance of such a minor distinction, Mr. Uhry expertly exhibits the lunacy of every type of racism.

I have read and had the oppurtunity to see this beautiful piece performed. Alfred Uhry knows how to write characters that come to life so you feel like you know them. This play is wonderful and keeps wanting to more about the people of it.

I needed a quick copy of this play, and found it at Amazon, of course. Quick service. Great play.

Mediocre garbage by the same guy who wrote "Driving Miss Daisy". Yet another mediocre play about Southern jews. There is probably a great book or play to be written about jews in the South, but this isn't it