Balm in Gilead by Lanford Wilson – 1981
Balm in Gilead (July 8, 1981 – August 30, 1981)
Cast: William L. Petersen, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Sinise, Alan Wilder, Glenne Headly, Gary Cole, Don Moffett, Stephen B.Eich, John Mahoney, Rick Snyder, Rondi Reed, Joan Allen …
| Date | Newspaper | Titel | ||
| 28. September 1980 | Chicago Reader | Smell of the Streets | ||
| 11. July 1981 | Paddington Review | “Gilead” resurrection deserves a second look | ||
| Chicago Tribune | It’s hard to go home to “Gilead” | Richard Christiansen | ||
| 10. July 1981 | Chicago Sun-Times | “Balm in Gilead” is a shining gem at Apollo Theater | ||
| Programm | klein | |||
| 15. September 1981 | Chicago Sun-Times | Steppenwolf “Balm in Gilead” top Jeff nominations | ||
| The Lost Tribe of Manhattan | John Kennedy | |||
| 1 September 1981 | Chicago Sun-Times | Steppenwolfs grim “Balm in Gilead” simply great theater | ||
| Programm | Groß |
Collection with different critics – click here
Balm in Gilead – 1980
Play by Lanford Wilson
Set in Frank’s café, a greasy spoon diner in New York City’s Upper Broadway neighborhood, Balm in Gilead loosely centers on Joe, a cynical drug dealer, and Darlene, a naive new arrival to the big city, over the course of three days. Joe seduces Darlene hours after they meet, but Joe’s relative inexperience in the dangerous world he does business in and his debt to a local kingpin named Chuckles hangs over his head, provoking him to push her away. Darlene, meanwhile, finds herself completely ill-equipped to handle life in a New York slum, and she becomes increasingly vulnerable to the attentions of the various low-rent men who hang around the café looking for an easy target. Joe, seeing in Darlene a chance for a fresh start, briefly considers giving up dealing. Just as he is about to return Chuckles’ money, however, he is killed by one of the dealer’s thugs. The play ends with all the principal characters droning their lines from the first scene over and over again in a circle, implying that their lives are stuck in a demoralizing rut.
Directed by John Malkovich
Cast: William L. Petersen, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Sinise, Alan Wilder, Glenne Headly, Gary Cole, Don Moffett, Stephen B.Eich, John Mahoney, Rick Snyder, Rondi Reed, Joan Allen …
Balm of Gilead is a balm (healing compound) made from the resinous gum of the balsam poplar (Populus candicans), a North American tree species. It takes its name from the allusive Biblical phrase “balm in Gilead”, referring to the balm or balsam carried from Gilead by the caravan of merchants to whom Joseph was sold by his brothers (Genesis chapter 37). In all likelihood, this ancient trade item was what is now known as balsam of Mecca, produced from the tree Commiphora gileadensis (syn. Commiphora opobalsamum), native to southern Arabia.
