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Six Plays: The Children's Hour / Days to Come / The Little Foxes / Watch on the Rhine / Another Part of the Forest / The Autumn Garden
These six plays span nearly twenty years of theatre and display the range of Lillian Hellman's dramatic gifts. The Children's Hour (1934), her first play, was considered shocking at the time; it concerns the devastating effects of a child's malicious charge of lesbianism against two of her teachers. Days to Come (1936) is about the tragic consequences of strike-breaking in a small Midwestern community. The Little Foxes (1939) and Another Part of the Forest (1946) together constitute a chilling study of the financial and psychological conflicts within the Hubbards, a wealthy and rapacious Southern family. Watch on the Rhine (1941), the story of how fascism affects an American family and the refugees they harbor, won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The Autumn Garden (1951) is a poignant yet humorous drama set at a summer resort near New Orleans.
494 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1934
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410 people want to read
About the author
Lillian Hellman
78 books204 followersLillian Florence "Lilly" Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American dramatist and screenwriter famously blacklisted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) at the height of the anti-communist campaigns of 1947–52.
Hellman was praised for sacrificing her career by refusing to answer questions by HUAC; but her denial that she had ever belonged to the Communist Party was easily disproved, and her veracity was doubted by many, including war correspondent Martha Gellhorn and literary critic Mary McCarthy.
She adapted her semi-autobiographical play The Little Foxes into a screenplay which received an Academy Award nomination in 1942.
Hellman was romantically involved with fellow writer and political activist Dashiell Hammett for thirty years until his death.
(from Wikipedia)
Hellman was praised for sacrificing her career by refusing to answer questions by HUAC; but her denial that she had ever belonged to the Communist Party was easily disproved, and her veracity was doubted by many, including war correspondent Martha Gellhorn and literary critic Mary McCarthy.
She adapted her semi-autobiographical play The Little Foxes into a screenplay which received an Academy Award nomination in 1942.
Hellman was romantically involved with fellow writer and political activist Dashiell Hammett for thirty years until his death.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
February 15, 2013
"The bigger the lie the better, as always," said Hellman, famous for her lies, and, no, she wasnt being ironic or trying to tease (she had no sense of humor). Her comment came during the Joe McCarthy 50s when a revival of her play, "The Children's Hour", was opening on Bwy. Her play, like her memoirs and public utterances, is about The Big Fib. I fully understand why, out of nearly a dozen forgettable dramas, this is her most effective.
Author of well-made plays, Hellman - whose best writing, ironically, is in her fanciful 'memoirs' - skillfully created tension and piled on the mean dialogue. She gained a serio rep when she fiercely stood up to Joe McC and is seen today, by some, as a heroine. She told HUAC in a letter that she wouldnt cut her conscience to fit the year's fashions. Ironically, at the same time she was wearing that year's fashion -- Balmain.
A member of the CP (briefly), she staunchly defended Stalin and his murderous purges. Righteous unto death, she never said, Oops, it was a ghastly mistake..no, not our gal Lil. Over the years she had publicized run-ins w Diana Trilling, Mary McCarthy and Tallulah Bankhead. "The Little Foxes" gave Tallu her first smash role on Bwy after returning fr London. As the malignant Regina she dealt w grasping, conniving brothers -- and won. The film version is a woeful bore; I was eager, finally, to read the play. It's hokum mellerdrama. So, you know it was Bankhead who made it a hot ticket.
When Russia invaded Finland in 1939, Bwy theatres decided to give benefit performances for Finnish refugees. The Lunts, Gert Lawrence, Katherine Hepburn participated. Hellman said "No!" when Bankhead sought to add "Foxes." In fact, Lil was a CP member in 1939. Of course, a few years later Hellman denied the entire incident. Except it's theatre history. But Lil was never put off by facts.
Her "Julia" story is more fiction that Lil parades as fact. I'm sure a chunky portion of her romance w Hammett is the same. I was curious to read "The Autumn Garden" (1951), said to be Hellman's favorite. (Few today have even heard of it). A Chekhovian piece about the emptiness of lives, it slumbers along w scatterbrains, drunks and passives bumping into each other at a Southern boarding-house near the sea.
One character says, "I've never liked liars," and the retort is, "Never mind. Most of us lie to ourselves."
Author of well-made plays, Hellman - whose best writing, ironically, is in her fanciful 'memoirs' - skillfully created tension and piled on the mean dialogue. She gained a serio rep when she fiercely stood up to Joe McC and is seen today, by some, as a heroine. She told HUAC in a letter that she wouldnt cut her conscience to fit the year's fashions. Ironically, at the same time she was wearing that year's fashion -- Balmain.
A member of the CP (briefly), she staunchly defended Stalin and his murderous purges. Righteous unto death, she never said, Oops, it was a ghastly mistake..no, not our gal Lil. Over the years she had publicized run-ins w Diana Trilling, Mary McCarthy and Tallulah Bankhead. "The Little Foxes" gave Tallu her first smash role on Bwy after returning fr London. As the malignant Regina she dealt w grasping, conniving brothers -- and won. The film version is a woeful bore; I was eager, finally, to read the play. It's hokum mellerdrama. So, you know it was Bankhead who made it a hot ticket.
When Russia invaded Finland in 1939, Bwy theatres decided to give benefit performances for Finnish refugees. The Lunts, Gert Lawrence, Katherine Hepburn participated. Hellman said "No!" when Bankhead sought to add "Foxes." In fact, Lil was a CP member in 1939. Of course, a few years later Hellman denied the entire incident. Except it's theatre history. But Lil was never put off by facts.
Her "Julia" story is more fiction that Lil parades as fact. I'm sure a chunky portion of her romance w Hammett is the same. I was curious to read "The Autumn Garden" (1951), said to be Hellman's favorite. (Few today have even heard of it). A Chekhovian piece about the emptiness of lives, it slumbers along w scatterbrains, drunks and passives bumping into each other at a Southern boarding-house near the sea.
One character says, "I've never liked liars," and the retort is, "Never mind. Most of us lie to ourselves."
August 26, 2017
These six plays make a wonderful intro to Lillian Hellman and American theater in the 1930s through the early 1950s. I'll talk about each one separately, although they all share well-drawn characters and elegant dramatic structure.
The Children's Hour: This or The Little Foxes was my favorite. This one is about the power of an angry child over the adults around her as well as about homophobia in 1934 when it (and what it is afraid of) was almost impossible to name. The use of the passage of time was perfect, as was the slow development of Mary, Karen, and Martha over the play. I thought that Hellman really isolated the terrible power of righteousness (as opposed to rightness): "It had to be done." She also uses the malicious charge to show the power of doubt and uncertainty to change things that we would like to believe are unchangeable. The play uses its shape to fill in enormous amounts of plot that happen off-stage and I love it, because it makes those scenes all the more effective for being invisible.
Days to Come is a labor tragedy, pure and simple. Right down to the elements of hamartia and peripeteia. When the boss brings in strikebreakers he learns about his own folly and looses his wealth as well as the love of his workers. Greed and a sort of vicious understanding are rampant and I love the moment of knowledge that appears in in classic Greek tragic form: It is, like all tragedy, not without sympathy for the one who makes the mistake, but also does not shrink from a certainty that this was the wrong way to handle things--even if there may have been no right one. (The interactions between the strikebreaker and the labor organizer also underscore this).
The Little Foxes: Tricky and unkind, the Hubbards scheme around one another. Each of them is, perhaps, a little fox, but the toll it takes on their humanity is great. I loved the way Hellman takes advantage of her setting here--it is set earlier than any play in the collection except Another Part of the Forest which tells the story of this same family twenty years prior to this one. By placing it in the South, in a world still dealing with the costs of Reconstruction, one that is still trying to look genteel while sweeping its hideous history under the rug, Hellman draws attention to deep-rooted awfulness. The characters's falseness highlights the falseness of the myth of politeness and aristocracy (or near-aristocracy) that their wealth projects, and thus reflects of the possibilities of such falseness for all such presentations. Once again, she makes expert use of scenes off-stage and in the gap between acts to allow this drama to play out entirely in a single living room, tightening the story down to its most necessary parts and making this a story with great import by adamantly refusing to give it epic, universal scope.
Watch on the Rhine is a play about politics, fascism, desperation, complicity and the lack thereof, and fear. It speaks quickly to its time. First performed in April 1941 and set in spring 1940, I have to ask if the play did not encourage public sentiment towards joining the war and the necessity of fighting fascism. But at the same time, it understands complicity even as it condemns it.
Another Part of the Forest goes back further in time to continue the story of the Hubbards. How did they become the people they became, why have they devoted themselves to their unhappiness, what is their motivation? It answers these questions and also portrays a compelling picture of avarice and selfishness and manipulation between the various characters. It was my least favorite of the six plays, but it still managed to create characters effectively, filling in their psyches in ways that The Little Foxes did not.
is a sweet and sadly funny story about loneliness. It's just beautiful and while not as harrowing as The Children's Hour or The Little Foxes, it reaches depths of feeling that are only obtainable with a tale that is so very personal and close. Every character is human and the play charts their whole lives in little bursts over the course of a single week. Another story told mostly in hints and unseen happenings, what we do see is just enough for us to fill in the remainder of the story on our own. Everyone is trying to find their way and just barely failing at it--facades crumble like abandoned buildings as the play goes on and the week wears on everyone in it. Particularly poignant for me was Fredrick and Sophie's desperate attempts to put together a life without any hope of loving each other--she because she needs something other than what her aunt wants for her and he because (I think) he's probably trying to obscure homosexual inclinations so that he can maintain his respectability and his ties to his mother and grandmother. This was not the only story that played out through the play, however, and all of them trace loss and lack with ease and brilliance.
The Children's Hour: This or The Little Foxes was my favorite. This one is about the power of an angry child over the adults around her as well as about homophobia in 1934 when it (and what it is afraid of) was almost impossible to name. The use of the passage of time was perfect, as was the slow development of Mary, Karen, and Martha over the play. I thought that Hellman really isolated the terrible power of righteousness (as opposed to rightness): "It had to be done." She also uses the malicious charge to show the power of doubt and uncertainty to change things that we would like to believe are unchangeable. The play uses its shape to fill in enormous amounts of plot that happen off-stage and I love it, because it makes those scenes all the more effective for being invisible.
Days to Come is a labor tragedy, pure and simple. Right down to the elements of hamartia and peripeteia. When the boss brings in strikebreakers he learns about his own folly and looses his wealth as well as the love of his workers. Greed and a sort of vicious understanding are rampant and I love the moment of knowledge that appears in in classic Greek tragic form: It is, like all tragedy, not without sympathy for the one who makes the mistake, but also does not shrink from a certainty that this was the wrong way to handle things--even if there may have been no right one. (The interactions between the strikebreaker and the labor organizer also underscore this).
The Little Foxes: Tricky and unkind, the Hubbards scheme around one another. Each of them is, perhaps, a little fox, but the toll it takes on their humanity is great. I loved the way Hellman takes advantage of her setting here--it is set earlier than any play in the collection except Another Part of the Forest which tells the story of this same family twenty years prior to this one. By placing it in the South, in a world still dealing with the costs of Reconstruction, one that is still trying to look genteel while sweeping its hideous history under the rug, Hellman draws attention to deep-rooted awfulness. The characters's falseness highlights the falseness of the myth of politeness and aristocracy (or near-aristocracy) that their wealth projects, and thus reflects of the possibilities of such falseness for all such presentations. Once again, she makes expert use of scenes off-stage and in the gap between acts to allow this drama to play out entirely in a single living room, tightening the story down to its most necessary parts and making this a story with great import by adamantly refusing to give it epic, universal scope.
Watch on the Rhine is a play about politics, fascism, desperation, complicity and the lack thereof, and fear. It speaks quickly to its time. First performed in April 1941 and set in spring 1940, I have to ask if the play did not encourage public sentiment towards joining the war and the necessity of fighting fascism. But at the same time, it understands complicity even as it condemns it.
Another Part of the Forest goes back further in time to continue the story of the Hubbards. How did they become the people they became, why have they devoted themselves to their unhappiness, what is their motivation? It answers these questions and also portrays a compelling picture of avarice and selfishness and manipulation between the various characters. It was my least favorite of the six plays, but it still managed to create characters effectively, filling in their psyches in ways that The Little Foxes did not.
is a sweet and sadly funny story about loneliness. It's just beautiful and while not as harrowing as The Children's Hour or The Little Foxes, it reaches depths of feeling that are only obtainable with a tale that is so very personal and close. Every character is human and the play charts their whole lives in little bursts over the course of a single week. Another story told mostly in hints and unseen happenings, what we do see is just enough for us to fill in the remainder of the story on our own. Everyone is trying to find their way and just barely failing at it--facades crumble like abandoned buildings as the play goes on and the week wears on everyone in it. Particularly poignant for me was Fredrick and Sophie's desperate attempts to put together a life without any hope of loving each other--she because she needs something other than what her aunt wants for her and he because (I think) he's probably trying to obscure homosexual inclinations so that he can maintain his respectability and his ties to his mother and grandmother. This was not the only story that played out through the play, however, and all of them trace loss and lack with ease and brilliance.
Read
June 7, 2015[this isn't the exact edition i'm reading...mine is hard cover and called 'the collected plays' and contains 2 others, adaptations from French plays]
loving this great object lesson in the telling of stories through dialogue only. love the plays that dip back and forth in time, too.
loving this great object lesson in the telling of stories through dialogue only. love the plays that dip back and forth in time, too.
June 26, 2012
Wow, Lillian Hellman does NOT hold up well. With the exception of The Little Foxes, which I still enjoyed, all of the plays in this collection were dated and pretty disappointing. (The Children's Hour has its moments, though.)
September 3, 2009
I daresay if I'd read this decades ago, I might have been more shocked and titillated, and thus found the collection more entertaining. As it stands, I thought it a fairly dated collection. And everyone's so SILLY. The Children's Hour has, probably, the most realistic characters that aren't also tediously boring. Martha is entirely sympathetic, and you feel genuinely bad for her. No other character in this collection aroused my interest otherwise. Sophie, in The Autumn Garden, at least has a clear-eyed idea of what's best for herself without ruining anyone else's life, but was still hard to sympathize with. Perhaps I am callow, but I'd rather re-read Tennessee Williams any day.
July 24, 2017
I absolutely devoured these plays. I came to the work of Lillian Hellman because I was such a fan of the 2017 revival of "The Little Foxes," but each of these plays is a beautiful, thought-provoking masterpiece in its own right. I highly recommend these for theatre and drama fans!
February 25, 2008
A great American playright....timeless in a "dated" sort of way. A must for a "goodreader's" bookshelf.
March 29, 2013
Strong characters, serious topics
December 18, 2017
Intense and immediate. And, like "Long Day's Journey Into Night," when I finished each of these, I was stunned: What is going to become of these people?
May 6, 2011
I loved this book! Ms. Hellman wrote about strong topics and gave her characters life.
June 7, 2017
These six plays are a mixed bag, in all. The highlight of the collection, in my view, is definitely The Children's Hour, though that might just be my own predilection for dramas about tweenage sociopaths (my view has always been that children are more often than not mean, petty, vindictive, and grotesquely awful, and I think that works of literature that highlight this gain a heightened sense of realism that would not be present if Mary were an adult). The Little Foxes is also a great play, if only for the fact that the characters of Ben, Oscar, and Regina are so deliciously well crafted that it is fun to see them connive. I, however, cannot endorse either Days to Come or Watch on the Rhine, as the characters here are not nearly so well crafted, and the lack of strong characters leave exposed the fact that Hellman's plots often leave something to be desired. Days to Come is clearly a work whose politics come before its value as entertainment, and this gives its characters a certain lack of authenticity (though I do like how Hellman chooses to portray the capitalist Andrew sympathetically), while Watch on the Rhine suffers from the fact that the children are simply not believable as written; given how good Hellman was at constructing her schoolgirls in The Children's Hour, I must conclude this is intentional, but being an artistic choice rather than an oversight does not make it any less jarring. The final two plays in this collection are both forgettable; the characterizations show occasional sparks of Hellman's talents (I particularly liked Sophie from The Autumn Garden), but not enough to justify both being overly long and plodding in their plots.
September 24, 2023
Though The Autumn Garden was her personal favorite and widely regarded as Hellman’s “great work,” after a great time with these six I still come away thinking The Children’s Hour is her magnum opus. Succinctly titled, structurally perfect, a story so rich with tension and sorrow somehow built around characters who we barely get to scratch the surface of truly knowing. Watch on the Rhine, however, has stayed with me the most and surprised me in the sheer sentimentality she allowed herself to be vulnerable to in writing that final act. Foxes and Forest have great character development, but people like the Hubbards are tough to stomach even in fiction, let alone in two separate works. Days to Come is perhaps the simplest and therefore most underwhelming , though I feel it’s high time for a big-stage revival to see where a modern mind, in our shared present as global citizens, could take this period piece.
Overall solid. I think Hellman wrote dialogue with the best of them in as organic a way as I’ve seen for the American stage of yesteryear. Will revisit select works when the mood calls for it. I recommend instead of the film adaptations of each, one should first seek out the wonderful television biopic DASH AND LILLY, directed by Kathy Bates, on Rarefilmm.com.
Overall solid. I think Hellman wrote dialogue with the best of them in as organic a way as I’ve seen for the American stage of yesteryear. Will revisit select works when the mood calls for it. I recommend instead of the film adaptations of each, one should first seek out the wonderful television biopic DASH AND LILLY, directed by Kathy Bates, on Rarefilmm.com.
Read
December 4, 2019I read these plays eons ago, long before I joined Goodreads, and somewhere I have my own copy, although this was borrowed from the school library. I wanted to read The Little Foxes, as it's on the list of books students can present for the Matura here in Switzerland, and I thought I could use it with a future class. I was actually thinking of The Children's Hour, and had thought that could be a good theme to tackle, depending on how dated the play was. I hadn't remembered The Little Foxes at all, and decided it would not be what I wanted to work on with a class. I was a little surprised by the order in which the plays were presented in the book - maybe chronologically by when they were written, but I'd have to check. Having read The Little Foxes I was irked that Another Part of the Forest, which is basically the prequel, should follow. I was tempted to re-read The Little Foxes again afterwards, but the book needs to go back to the library. It was interesting to me how completely I'd forgotten almost all but The Children's Hour, except for the odd image. I loved reading Pentimento by Hellman, even if apparently the veracity of what she recounts has been contested.
June 24, 2019
The first two plays in this collection were awesome and interesting. "The Children's Hour" was 5 stars for me. The evil little Mary reminded me of Alison DiLaurentis from Pretty Little Liars. A too-clever, manipulative little sociopath. Someone I would never want to meet in life but fascinating as a story character. The fear of society in this play had me on edge too. This type of ostracism could happen to anyone, for any reason, and that is what makes it scary.
The second play, "Days to Come" was rather interesting too, with the class drama of a factory strike. 3 or 4 stars.
The other four plays in this collection were just 2 stars for me. Interesting character studies, but the plots didn't intrigue me.
The second play, "Days to Come" was rather interesting too, with the class drama of a factory strike. 3 or 4 stars.
The other four plays in this collection were just 2 stars for me. Interesting character studies, but the plots didn't intrigue me.
August 7, 2019
Like any collection there is a range of quality in here, but when Hellman is on she’s brilliant.
My ranking:
Watch On The Rhine (distressingly relevant)
The Autumn Garden
Days to Come
The Little Foxes
The Children’s Hour (really doesn’t age well)
Another Part of the Forrest (prequels are tricky business)
My ranking:
Watch On The Rhine (distressingly relevant)
The Autumn Garden
Days to Come
The Little Foxes
The Children’s Hour (really doesn’t age well)
Another Part of the Forrest (prequels are tricky business)
Want to read
July 23, 201923 de julho de 2019 - The little foxes
July 2, 2023
Lillian Hellman is my favorite playwright. Way ahead of her time. Love her!!
July 10, 2023
4.5. All of these were so good that I saved The Autumn Garden to read later as a treat. I hope I get to see them live someday.
February 21, 2024
OMG. Great plays. Really develops characters and creates tension, which is, of course, drama.
Okay, this may be a lame review, but if you like reading plays, you'll want to read Hellman.
Okay, this may be a lame review, but if you like reading plays, you'll want to read Hellman.
July 30, 2018
This is a collection of six Lillian Hellman plays - The Children's Hour, Days to Come, The Little Foxes, Watch on the Rhine, Another Part of the Forest, and The Autumn Garden. My favorite was The Children's Hour.
The Children's Hour ★★★★
Days to Come ★★★
The Little Foxes ★★★
Watch on the Rhine ★★★
Another Part of the Forest ★★★
The Autumn Garden ★★★
The Children's Hour ★★★★
Days to Come ★★★
The Little Foxes ★★★
Watch on the Rhine ★★★
Another Part of the Forest ★★★
The Autumn Garden ★★★
March 18, 2017
GRIGGS (Laughs) So at any given moment you're only the sum of your life up to then. There are no big moments you can reach unless you've a pile of smaller moments to stand on. That big hour of decision, the turning point in your life, the someday you've counted on when you'd suddenly wipe out your past mistakes, do the work you've never done, think the way you'd never thought, have what you'd never had-it just doesn't come suddenly. You've trained yourself for it while you waited-or you've let it all run past you and frittered yourself away. (Shakes his head) I've frittered myself away, Crossman.
CROSSMAN Most people like us.
GRIGGS That's no good to me. Most people like us haven't done anything to themselves; they've let it be done to them. I had no right to let it be done to me, but I let it be done. What consolation can I find in not having made myself any more useless than an Ellis, a Denery, a Tuckerman, a-
The Autumn Garden (1951)
These plays, while perhaps dated, overflow with life and warmth and melancholy. Hellman embraces the muddle of human existence, realizing that, time and time again, human agency is compounded by social norms, social relations, and cultural expectations. In Hellman's world, people are not inherently evil, but turn towards evil because of their circumstances and social interactions. However, Hellman has no patience for vice or boorishness or greed. Those who hurt, damage, and belittle do not end up looking very good in the end, even if they get their way.
There is a bittersweet, wistful feeling to these plays, but that feeling never traffics in the sort of nostalgia that ends up being dangerous or obfuscating. These characters are unfulfilled, restless, unsatisfied. Life is a struggle and we get through by having others to lean on, other people that care about us and see us as human. Hellman's humanism shines brightly amidst the dirt and grime.
CROSSMAN Most people like us.
GRIGGS That's no good to me. Most people like us haven't done anything to themselves; they've let it be done to them. I had no right to let it be done to me, but I let it be done. What consolation can I find in not having made myself any more useless than an Ellis, a Denery, a Tuckerman, a-
The Autumn Garden (1951)
These plays, while perhaps dated, overflow with life and warmth and melancholy. Hellman embraces the muddle of human existence, realizing that, time and time again, human agency is compounded by social norms, social relations, and cultural expectations. In Hellman's world, people are not inherently evil, but turn towards evil because of their circumstances and social interactions. However, Hellman has no patience for vice or boorishness or greed. Those who hurt, damage, and belittle do not end up looking very good in the end, even if they get their way.
There is a bittersweet, wistful feeling to these plays, but that feeling never traffics in the sort of nostalgia that ends up being dangerous or obfuscating. These characters are unfulfilled, restless, unsatisfied. Life is a struggle and we get through by having others to lean on, other people that care about us and see us as human. Hellman's humanism shines brightly amidst the dirt and grime.
May 14, 2014
I had mixed feelings about this collection of Hellman's work. I had only ever seen The Children's Hour before, so it was interesting to get a fuller sense of her work. The plays are arranged in chronological order, so while this means that two plays with the same characters are separated by an unrelated play written in between them, it does mean that I got to see how Hellman developed as a writer over the course of her career, with increasingly complex characters and a more nuanced view of the world. Hellman has a gift for banter, and for writing drawn-out scenes that ratchet up the tension as characters quietly put the thumbscrews to one another. But I found myself frustrated with her plots--all of her plays seem to hinge on sociopaths taking advantage of naïve or genuinely stupid people at moments of vulnerability, and I feel like life is more interesting than that. I wanted to see more humanity in her villains and more fire in her fall guys (can't bring myself to call them heroes, or even protagonists). Watch on the Rhine comes closest to that, and it was probably my favorite of this collection; the characters genuinely surprised me. I wanted more of that, and was frustrated not to get it.
July 20, 2008
I went on a Lillian Hellman jag at one point in my life - I think it was when I was coming down from a Dashiell Hammett bender. I read everything I could find by her and about her, so of course I read her plays.
I like Hellman's sensibilities: I think her political views and mine would be pretty closely aligned if she were still around today. In many ways, her main topic is power, whether she is depicting the power a young girl has to persuade people, or political power. Reading plays is a worthwhile occupation, and I wholeheartedly recommend these.
I like Hellman's sensibilities: I think her political views and mine would be pretty closely aligned if she were still around today. In many ways, her main topic is power, whether she is depicting the power a young girl has to persuade people, or political power. Reading plays is a worthwhile occupation, and I wholeheartedly recommend these.
September 8, 2010
I *like* Lillian Hellman! She's an extremely engaging playwright, no matter what her topic is. Her characters are warm and fascinating but not sentimental or cloying. I think my favorite of the bunch was "Watch On the Rhine," although I'll always love "The Children's Hour."
October 16, 2007
The Master.
July 8, 2008
Rating based on The Little Foxes and The Children's Hour only.
August 1, 2010
Modern Library Edition of FOUR plays by Lillian Hellman: The Children's Hour; Days to Come; The Little Foxes; Watch on the Rhine.
February 24, 2014
Wonderful writing ! I enjoyed all 6 of them.
Read
February 6, 2016Read "The Little Foxes"
July 17, 2007
by far one of my favorite collection of plays.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews