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| Brock Peters and company. |
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| Margaret Cowie, Gilbert Price. |
Note: An earlier version of this entry made a plot description error, as noted by a couple of readers. Below, I have revised accordingly, using, with slight revisions, what I wrote for Lost in the Stars in the Encyclopedia of the New York Stage, 1940-1950 (1992), where I discussed the original 1949 production in greater detail.
Alan Paton’s anguished 1948 novel, Cry, the Beloved Country, set in South Africa, was the basis for this 1949 collaboration between composer Kurt Weill and playwright Maxwell Anderson. The book and lyrics had long been thought mediocre, and several critics harped on this inadequacy, although Harold Clurman decided the writing was not as poor as he once had believed. Few, however, disputed the power of Weill’s score.
The novel was the basis for this collaboration between composer Kurt Weill and playwright Maxwell Anderson, which had opened on Broadway in 1949 and run for 281 performances. The
book and lyrics had long been thought mediocre, and, when the show was revived in 1972, several critics harped on
this inadequacy, although Harold Clurman decided the writing was not as poor as
he once had believed. Few, however, disputed the power of Weill’s score.
Set in a hill village and in Johannesburg, this is the tale of a saintly Anglican preacher of Natal, Stephen Kumalo (Brock Peters), a Zulu, who leaves his village for the city to find his son, a gold miner, who has not written in months. He discovers that the errant youth, Absalom (Gilbert Price), has, during a botched robbery attempt, accidentally killed a white man, Arthur Jarvis (David Jay). Arthur was an important friend to the oppressed Blacks. His wealthy, white supremacist father, James (Jack Gwillim), is a village neighbor.
Absalom, in prison, is convicted of murder and scheduled to be hung, even though he could have saved himself by lying at his trial. Various developments ensue, including Absalom's marriage in prison to his pregnant lover, Irina (Margaret Cowie). Finally, James, confused and miserable, discovers a shared paternal grief with Stephen and befriends him. The piece ends on a note of reconciliation and mutual understanding between the two fathers. The work powerfully conveys the system of apartheid, with all its racist and political evils.
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| Jack Gwillim, Brock Peters. |
The production itself received mostly strong notices, including
one from Clive Barnes, who said it “was restaged with resource and
imagination,” with excellent contributions from the leads, the choreography,
and the designers. Henry Hewes found it “deeply refreshing” to hear the “tragic
and exultant” music and see the work “strikingly staged” on Oliver Smith’s “tilted
circular platform with a hole in the middle and bleachers on each side,” supplemented by two overhead projection screens. Zulu dance and ritual sequences were
worked into the action to link with the acted scenes.
Brock Peters and Gilbert Price gave distinctive performances. Disclaimers, though, issued from such as Michael Feingold, who considered the show “a bit faded and a bit wooden,” as well as poorly produced. John Simon was upset, among other things, over the cutting of two songs and the transferal of a third from one character to another.
Peters received a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance, and a Tony nomination for Best Actor, Musical, while Price was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor, Musical category. Others in the large cast included Babafumi Akunyuri, Rosetta LeNoire, Giancarlo Esposito, Margaret Cowie, and Staats Cotsworth.