Slow Dance on the Killing Ground

by William Hanley

As the curtain rises, a poor, dusty shop with its dirty window obscuring the dark hos-tile night, with its mean little counter, and with its juke box glaring vulgarly from the side, the storekeeper is taking inventory. The door is flung open, letting in a lithe young black man, weirdly gotten up in a soft, high-crowned hat, sunglasses, a cape, short slacks and sneakers. Mr. Hanley calls this act Pas de Deux. In this dance for two, the characters make hesitant approaches, circle, feint, threaten each other with gun and ice pick but scarcely make contact. The young man is obviously a hunted man. Through the circumlocutions of his odd mixture of jive talk and fancy literary allusions, there pants a sense of terror. The storekeeper is a non-Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, is close-mouthed, suspicious, anxious to avoid self-involvement. In the second act, the Pas de Deux becomes Pas de Trois. The third dancer is Rosie, an eigh-teen-year old from Riverdale, has wandered into the shop after losing her way while looking for the address of an abortionist. Rosie has no illusions about her homeliness or about the encounter that has led to her troubles. The laconic German and the flowery young man react to her with a sensitivity and concern that seem to diminish the furies within them. But not for long. Finally the German is driven to revealing the truth about himself as the young man, at last, in the third act, faces his inexorable fate out there on the killing ground.

Genres: Plays

74 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1965

Reviews

[LYS.]

RANDALL. What is your story, Mister Glas?
GLAS. What story?
RANDALL. Who you are: that story.
—page 50

this is an odd play to write a review about, so i’m leaving this unrated for the time being. published in the 60s by an ohioan-born playwright, SLOW DANCE ON THE KILLING GROUND stumbles over its triple step of weaving through sticky topics like the holocaust, race, and abortion on this relatively slow night in a candy shop in new york.

with absolute tight—painfully so—stage directions, the main triad (glas, randall, and rosie, mapped to their respective topics, of course) pace and turn in this shop, half-caged by their need for a hiding place from the killing ground/the outside world. their introductions are rife with masks, a reticence that allows them to burrow in further into hiding, but as the play progresses, the masks fall. this play is definitely interesting and makes for a tension-filled read, but the way hanley goes and writes as though the severity of each characters’ issues are kind of on similar playing fields completely shows its age. does make you think, though! and even with its kind of absurd dialogue sometimes, i was intrigued!

anyway, love n light, guys!

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A high degree of tension throughout, almost unrelenting, plus some weighty subject matter and unexpected twists (as twists should be). Very micromanaged stage directions. This edition also features scene design and sketch, as well as a list of props by act.

[Emelie27 · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great play. Goodness.

[Kate Tooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just reread this play- I happen to have found a book club copy in a charleston antique store ages ago, and so I had it on hand. It's surprisingly hard to find in local libraries. Really forgot how much I liked it. Stylized, yes, but it would have been heavy-handed if it hadn't been.

[Thomas Propest · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange read but nonetheless enticing, I couldn't put it down!