Odor of Odets

Paradise Lost

by Clifford Odets

Paradise Lost (the play not the poem) by Clifford Odets is a morass of malodorous muckraking. Bereft of ideas, relying on screaming and character innuendo rather than serious drama this play is the poster child for what was wrong with drama in the 1930s. The characters were caricatures from the soul of a playwright who detests human virtue; thus none was found on the stage. After an act of yelling and bickering with mere glimpses of positive human character I was fed up. I hope you do not get the wrong idea, I just did not like this play. Even the production seemed to be out of place, veering into a postmodern space, and it did not improve on the playwright's vision, such as it was. The acting was excellent in spots, but primarily mediocre; however, given the material this was not surprising. TimeLine Theatre Company has offered better, much better, in the past and hopefully will do so in the future.