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| Viveca Lindfors. |
A far-ranging assortment of writings about women, performed by Swedish actress Viveca Lindfors, including the work of Lillian Hellman, Bertolt Brecht, Eve Merriam, D.H. Lawrence, George Bernard Shaw, Luigi Pirandello, Anne Sexton, Shakespeare, Sally Kempton, Colette, Jean Giraudoux, Nora Sayre, Henrik Ibsen, Betty Friedan, Anais Nin, and many others—36 pieces in all. The beautiful, versatile star moved effectively through the diverse offerings, making dynamic transitions, being at one moment comic, at the next tragic. She left her audience with the shimmering impression of an unforgettable experience.
After seeing the show in an Off-Off Broadway version before it returned under an Off-Broadway contract, Howard Thompson wrote: “As a production it works nicely, unobtrusively. So does Miss Lindfors’s use of several wigs, a scarf, two capes, a formidable hat and a cluster of metal sculptures. . . . This is also a body-ballet performance, with the actress gracefully padding the stage.” The sculptures were by Susanne Benton and the choreographic consultant was Gui Andrisano.
There were warm notices of the star’s talents, her vocal range, and her emotional depths, but there also was a feeling that the show was bloated and needed to be pared down to fewer selections.
