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| Joseph Wiseman (center) and cast of The Last Analysis. |
THE LAST ANALYSIS [Dramatic Revival] A: Saul Bellow; D: Theodore Mann; S: Marsha L. Eck; C: Joseph G. Aulisi; L: Roger Morgan; P: Circle in the Square; T: Circle in the Square (OB); 6/21/71-8/1/71 (46)
Director Theodore Mann attempted with this Off-Broadway revival
to bring new life to a play that had failed quickly in its original 1964
Broadway production, although several critics argued it deserved another try. Saul
Bellow’s reputation as a novelist had soared in the intervening years, but his
name and the innate comedic qualities of his play were not enough to save it
from Mann’s misdirected, miscast grasp at resuscitation. Bellow had made
numerous helpful revisions. However, they could not compensate for the
production’s drawbacks.
Clive Barnes happily responded to The Last Analysis as still being “one of the funniest comedies
written during the last few years.” Nevertheless, John Simon wrote that its plot
about the retired, old-time, standup Jewish comic Philip Bummidge (Joseph
Wiseman)—a blend of Milton Berle, Jack Carter, and Buddy Hackett—and his
preoccupation with Freudian self-analysis, was more telling for a 1964 audience
than one seven years later. In the role misplayed by Sam Levene in the
original, an even unfunnier portrayal came from Joseph Wiseman, a serious actor
out of his depth in Bellow’s farcical circumstances.
Noteworthy cast members included Grayson Hall and David
Margulies,