The Big Picture and the Closeup

We can all agree that the conclusions of Beneatha’s Place, both dramatic and thematic, make the play as a whole a satisfying contrast with Clybourne Park, if not yet its equal. The jury is still out on this coupling, however. I predict much greater success for it if Kwei-Armah, a man who seems incredibly busy on two continents, can find the time to work the kinks out his half of the pair. Paradoxically, the less slavish his adherence to Norris’s template, the greater the likelihood his play will be invited along on Clybourne Park’s victory lap.

And here is the moral, strategic, and tactical problem: How we can expect the world to accord full faith and credit to that court’s eventual verdict when we establish and countenance tribunals that are themselves human rights violations? A question urgently worth pondering.

The Big Picture Home Page | Previous Big Picture Column |  Next Big Picture Column   War Powers Page | Previous War Powers Column | Next War Powers Column  War Powers, War Lies: A Series  Part 4: Willingly Deceived     Published in the Maryland Daily Record April 29, 2005             Last time, we considered the dishonesty of President Lyndon Johnson in […]