Emily Mann Criticism
Emily Mann, born in 1952, is an influential American playwright and director renowned for her documentary-style theater, which addresses pressing social and political issues such as war and political assassination. Her "theater of testimony" approach engages audiences with challenging, often painful subjects, compelling them to confront complex realities. Among her acclaimed works, Still Life and Execution of Justice stand out for their exploration of the Vietnam War's psychological toll and the controversial trial of Dan White, respectively. As noted in When Reality Takes to the Stage, Mann's works often blend interviews, transcripts, and performance elements to create a layered narrative structure. This technique has been praised by critics like Michael Feingold, who described Still Life as an unforgettable piece of dramatic art, according to his review Home Fronts. However, some critics, such as John Simon and Robert Brustein, find fault in her methods, citing issues like lack of engagement or excessive direction. Despite these mixed reviews, Mann's work continues to be celebrated for its emotional resonance and ability to shed light on important societal issues, as exemplified by Execution of Justice, which was praised for its compelling courtroom drama and social critique.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Author Commentary
(summary)
In the following interview, Emily Mann discusses her innovative use of interviews, transcripts, and performance elements to create a layered, non-linear structure in her plays such as Still Life and Execution of Justice, emphasizing the importance of simultaneity, emotional resonance, and engaging the audience as active participants.
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Still Life
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Home Fronts
(summary)
In the following highly favorable review of the latter production, Feingold praises the writing, acting, and staging of the piece.
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Various Ways to Lose Your Head
(summary)
In the following harshly negative review of the Off-Broadway production of Still Life, Simon describes Mann as "pretentious" and calls the main characters "stupid, crazy, odious, and boring."
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Still Life
(summary)
In the following assessment of the Off-Broadway production of Still Life, Hummler finds the play emotionally powerful but contends that it "goes too far in rubbing the audience's nose in the brutality of combat." Still Life is strong stuff. Emily Mann's three-character documentary drama about the traumatic effects of Vietnam combat on an ex-Marine and the two women in his life is an unflinching and grimly convincing confrontation with the horror of war. It's too long and repetitious, and too much too depressing for popular taste, but it has the ring of truth.
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A Theater Marking Time
(summary)
In this review, Brustein admires Mann's intentions in Still Life, but contends that since "the characters are essentially self-involved, their perceptions never seem to rise much above domestic homilies, as if the major significance of the greatest tragedy in America's recent history was its impact on sex and marriage."
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Bottles of Violence: Fragments of Vietnam in Emily Mann's Still Life
(summary)
In the essay below, Meyers examines Mann's depiction of the violence underlying American myths regarding manhood, male/female relations, and heroism in Still Life.
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Home Fronts
(summary)
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Execution Of Justice
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When Reality Takes to the Stage
(summary)
In the following piece, which appeared just prior to the premiere, Bennetts provides background on the genesis of the play, its staging, and its author.
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Execution of Justice
(summary)
Hummler extols nearly every aspect of Execution of Justice, declaring: "It's refreshing finally to encounter a play on a pressing contemporary issue on Broadway, and Mann has packaged the volatile material in an effective, high-tech format." Execution of Justice is both a riveting courtroom drama and a penetrating analysis of the social cost of intolerance. Emily Mann's documentary-style play about the Dan White murder trial in San Francisco, widely produced in the nonprofit legit sector, has been given a superior production for Broadway and stacks up as rattling good theater. But it may have difficulties attracting the challenge-shy Broadway public.
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Murder Most Foul
(summary)
In this review of the Broadway production of Execution of Justice, Gill finds the play incoherent, but he reserves his harshest censure for the bleak set design.
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Execution of Justice
(summary)
In the following evaluation of the New York staging of Execution of Justice, Simon judges the play underwritten, overdirected, and overproduced.
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Execution of Justice
(summary)
In the evaluation below of Execution of Justice, Brown notes that "the weakness of the play lies in its similarity to news and documentary technique, " but he concludes favorably: "A serious attempt is being made here to question our legal system and the ethics that underlie it."
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From Black and White to Red and Pink: Political Themes on the American Jewish Stage
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Schiff discusses Mann's indictment of the psychiatric profession and the media in Execution of Justice. Execution of Justice was commissioned by San Francisco's Eureka Theatre in 1982. The play's subject is the trial of Dan White for the assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first avowed homosexual to hold elective office in the United States. The particulars are familiar: in November 1978, White, a former policeman and fireman turned city supervisor, resigned his post, then asked to be reinstated. Learning that the mayor was going to turn him down, he slipped into City Hall and gunned down both Moscone and Milk. He was found guilty only of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to seven years in prison.
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When Reality Takes to the Stage
(summary)
- Further Reading