Julia Cho: "The Language Archive" (3)

Everyone I know who saw this play loved it. Now for some more links.

First, the Forum Theatee's own web page for the play:

The Language Archive

There is also a blog for your comments (see mine):

OpenForum Blog: Announcing a Season, part 2 of 4

The Forum Theater also has a Facebook page. The Theatre references my review on this blog and says (21 Feb.):

A nice blog response to THE LANGUAGE ARCHIVE from an Esperanto perspective! Dankon!

To which actor Mitchell Hébert, who plays the Language Archivist George and Dr. Zamenhof, adds: "Dankon!!"

Now for reviews in the press and the blogosphere. The first one I found was:

The Language Archive, By Tim Treanor (DC Theatre Scene, February 20, 2012)

This is an eminently fair and positive review. I don't agree with the few negative criticisms, but they are not major.

Here is a very attentive and favorable review:

The Language Archive at Forum Theatre, By Amanda Gunther, Maryland Theatre Guide, February 20, 2012

The Washington City Paper review plays up the comic aspects of the play:

The Language Archive at Forum Theatre, Reviewed: Or: The case of the tongue-tied linguist By Rebecca J. Ritzel • Washington City Paper • February 24, 2012

Ritzel indeed lauds the comedy. As for her less favorable remarks, the show did not drag for me at any point. She also criticizes Mary's encounter with the ostensibly suicidal baker. Of course there is exaggeration and not every encounter depicted would be realistic outside of the theater. The reviewer does not adequately attend to the serious side of the play. While a bare account of the theme might strike the unwary reader as trite, the execution of the play's premise is a work of superior craftsmanship, and is in the end emotionally powerful. Already one reader's comment has appeared. I may add mine as well.