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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Dance of Time,
By
This review is from: The Snow Ball. (Paperback)
Born in 1930, A.R. Gurney is best known for such bitter-sweet comedies as LOVE LETTERS, THE COCKTAIL HOUR, and THE DINING ROOM. His plays tend to focus on upper class WASPS--white anglo-saxon protestants--who find ways to cheat themselves out of happiness; very often his plays, most notably THE DINING ROOM, slip and slide between past and present, showing different characters at different points at their lives on the stage at the same time. Written in 1992, THE SNOW BALL is not as well known as his other works, but it is perhaps indicative of them.The story concerns Cooper Jones and Lucy Dunbar, two old friends in late middle age. Cooper is a real estate agent; Lucy is a book store clerk. Both, however, fondly recall the days of their youth, when they took dance lessons and participated in the grand social occasion of the season, "The Snow Ball," where fellow dance students Jack Daley and Kitty Price amazed everyone with their skills. But time has not been entirely kind to the old gang. Cooper hasn't made a sale in a long time and his marriage to wife Liz is troubled. Lucy's bosses micromanage her. And as Jack and Kitty--they didn't marry, as everyone expected, and Jack is now a politician and Kitty a beautiful but empty Florida socialite on her third marriage. When the hotel ballroom once used for The Snow Ball is restored, Cooper and Lucy plan to re-open it by resurrecting the ball and by coaxing Jack and Kitty to return for a final dance. Their work together on the project has consequences, both for them and for Jack and Kitty. As the present day revival of The Snow Ball plays out, the play shifts in time to examine the characters as they were some thirty years ago, most of them upper class boys and girls who really didn't want to take dance lessons but who gradually found themselves caught up in the magic of ballroom dancing. This was particularly true of Jack and Kitty, who made a stunning couple on the dancefloor and inspired their classmates to make an effort to the same. But again, the past is not entirely the way Cooper and Lucy remember it, and although there is a momentary reconcilliation between past, present, and future, it cannot last. THE SNOW BALL has a certain poignancy that is quite beautiful. At the same time, it is worth pointing out that plays are not intended to be read, but to be seen, and this is true of THE SNOW BALL; readers who aren't familar with reading scripts may find this play extremely difficult to visualize. Recommended nonetheless. GFT, Amazon Reviewer
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