Wednesday, May 24, 2017

A forgotten hero of Crete during the German occupation: The Cretan Runner, by George Psychoundakis

The Cretan Runner: His Story of the German Occupation, by George Psychoundakis. (New York Review Books, 1998, first published in Great Britain by John Murray in 1955. Translated from the Greek by Patrick Leigh Fermor.

George Psychoundakis was a young shepherd on Crete in 1941 when the German army invaded. He joined other Cretans in the 10-day resistance. After the occupation of the island and evacuation by the British and Greek armies, he volunteered as a runner for the British underground service -- simply referred to as "the Service". The Cretan Runner is his memoir of the years of occupation, translated and annotated by his good friend, the writer Patrick Leigh Fermor. Fermor was a British officer who coordinated intelligence and resistance efforts on Crete, and George often took orders from him. George's modesty and humility help him come across as a very sympathetic and trustworthy figure.

He records the many missions, battles, encounters with the Germans that he took part in. As a runner, he carried messages and supplies over great distances and rough terrain, at great peril to himself. He was often on the brink of exhaustion and starvation, and was shot at numerous times. An uneducated man, George nevertheless writes with a good literary sense for observation, and a sense of drama. He describes his fellow Cretans and British soldiers as mostly brave and patriotic. However, he also names and identifies collaborators, and others who stole from fellow Cretans (sheep stealing was apparently common). George several times refers to the summary executions of collaborators by fellow Cretans. He offers no justifications for the executions, nor does he voice his disapproval.

I enjoyed the sense that I was reading a very "Greek" book, plainly written, with Greek intonations and behaviors. His fellow resistance fighters were "boys". Finding some good wine and hospitality is always a good thing. Spending a day resting with friends and eating well after so much hunger, is a very good thing. The egoism among the Cretans is there, their belief that each man is a heroic captain.

The memoir is somewhat repetitive, as this is a log of people and events, many of which have the same outlines. It will mostly be enjoyed by readers who want a closely observed account of what happened in those distant mountain villages.


Friday, May 19, 2017

Donald Marguiles should re-write Act 2 of "The Country House"

We saw "The Country House," a play by Donald Marguiles, at Road Less Traveled Productions, downtown Buffalo, on Thursday night, May 18, 2017.

This play depicts an acting family getting together for a summer holiday in the Berkshires in the family's country house. It is one year since the death of the daughter of the family matriarch has died of cancer. The deceased daughter's husband shows up with a Porsche and a young girlfriend. A famous handsome actor spends a few days in the house, attracting the active attention of every woman on the stage. The matriarch's son, a failed actor who wants to write a play, is angry at everybody. And so, a number of strained family interactions are set off.

The first half of the play has a decent share of humor. There are some nice quips. The set has a comfortable feel (although it doesn't hint at any underlying tensions in its design or setup). This is a very good cast, and they made the first act enjoyable. I especially liked Christian Brandjes as the failed actor Elliot, and enjoyed his energetic depiction of Elliot's cynicism. To my surprise I also liked Kristen Tripp Kelley as Nell, the gorgeous young girlfriend -- Nell did not come off as "incandescent" (in Walter's words) and didn't initially seem right for the part. Yet Kelley has a quiet focus and a way of depicting an interesting interior life that makes up for her not being the flashy eye candy referred to in the play.

By the intermission however, I began to feel that the playwright's grasp of the characters was weak. These were stock characters in fairly cliched exchanges. The hunky actor building schools in  the Congo as a display of his virtue. The deluded aging matriarch who thinks she still attracts young men. The aging director who mounts a defense of his wealth earned by making commercially successful films. The second act seemed predictable and strained. The last twenty minutes in particular, with Elliot wailing about how his mother, Anna, didn't really love him when he was a boy, were painful to watch. I couldn't help but feel that Marguiles needed a strong revision.

I wanted to like the play because of the very good cast. We appreicate the Road Less Traveled troupe and their energy in mounting the play. But the play itself needs work.