205. THE GOOD DOCTOR. From my (unpublished) ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE NEW YORK STAGE, 1970-1975

Christopher Plummer.

THE GOOD DOCTOR [Comedy/Family/One-Acts/Russia/Sex/Theatre] A/LY: Neil
Simon; D: A.J. Antoon; S/C: Tony Walton; L: Tharon Musser; M: Peter Link; P: Emanuel Azenberg and Eugene V. Wolsk; T: Eugene O’Neill Theatre; 11/21/74-5/26/74 (208)

Rene Auberjonois, Christopher Plummer,

Neil Simon’s failed attempt to blend his New York urban humor with material suggested by the great Russian dramatist/short story writer Anton Chekhov was an evening of vignettes, based largely on Chekhov’s early stories. Some of the pieces were merely character sketches, others approached the one-act form. They all were linked by the presence of the “good doctor,” or Chekhov himself, as played by Christopher Plummer, who not only narrated the program, but acted in some of the scenes.

Among the nine sketches were “The Sneeze,” about a minor bureaucrat (Rene Auberjonois) who sneezes on the bald head of his boss (Barnard Hughes) and eventually dies from the anguish to which this leads; “The Governess,” in which a tightfisted matron (Frances Sternhagen) systematically makes ruthless deductions from her young governess’s (Martha Henry) salary; “The Seduction,” concerning a father (Plummer) instructing his son (Auberjonois) on how to deal with prostitutes; and “The Audition,” dealing with a young actress’s (Marsha Mason) tryout for Chekhov himself by performing a speech from The Three Sisters.

Marsha Mason, Frances Sternhagen.

The critics were annoyed by the split personality of the writing, which was never sufficiently Chekhovian or effectively Simonian. There were occasional delights in evidence: some of the jokes clicked, one or two moments were touching, and the acting, Plummer’s especially, was impeccable. However, The Good Doctor was unable to cure its maladies.

Chrisopher Plummer, Barnard Hughes.

Clive Barnes thought the best scenes “droll and enchanting,” the weak ones “labored,” and the work as a whole “too anecdotal, with most stories closing with the dramatic ring of a punchline.” To Walter Kerr, the combination of Simon wisecracks and Chekhov wisdom made for a “thin pot-au-feu” that, as theatre, was “strained” and devoid of “creative energy.” He attributed this to the poor selection of Chekhov material as much as to Simon’s stylistic distance from his inspiration. Harold Clurman put it in these terms: “Even in his lightest moments Chekhov is modest, gentle, above all delicate and, as it were, chaste when the material itself is crude. Simon, I am sure, appreciates this, but the New York touch is always a little crass, obviously nudging, without heart.”

Rene Auberjonois was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor, Play, Tony; Frances Sternhagen, won the Best Supporting Actress, Play, Tony; Peter Link garnered a Tony nomination for his score, and Tharon Musser one for her lighting.