Saddened by Sly Fox

[Anna2]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 10:05pm

My husband and I were in Manhattan the end of May on a much needed vacation. Wanting to see a comedy we picked Sly Fox. I read quite a few reviews and it sounded light and fun. We were looking forward to an evening of humor...instead, the evening was like a kick in the gut. The beginning was mildly humorous...getting a few laughs us and the crowd. But the last 10 minutes of the first act left us speechless. It basically consisted of making fun of an attempted rape. Not a funny subject. I know first hand...our 20 year old daughter was raped a few months ago. No where in the many reviews I read did it mention exactly what the play was about. Had anyone made note of it, we certainly would not have picked this play. We ended up leaving, stunned, after the first act. We did not want to stick around for the second act which was about the trial..again a horrific experience in real life. I understand I may be hyper sensitive to the subject but I doubt I would have liked the play before the rape happened. It was in poor taste. I am positive I hold the same opinion of many. Statistically, one in four women are raped. I am sure there were many woman sitting in the audience of Sly Fox who were not finding the humor of the jokes...as they know first hand the devastation of a rape.

[mallardo]

Posted: 6/17/04 at 7:12am

I have a daughter too - I can well imagine how you felt. But in defense of Sly Fox, it's about greed not sex or rape. There is no rape. It's a test to see if a man will surrender what is most precious to him in order to acquire wealth. It's a cynical idea, to be sure, but it's the point of the play. Another character disinherites his son to achieve the same ends.

Remember, Sly Fox is an adaptation of a play, Volpone, that's now 400 years old! This theme has always been with us. Besides which it's played so farcically - the trial, which you missed, is pure pandemonium - that, to me, what might be offensive in reality is subsumed in broad humor.

Under the circumstances it was the wrong play at the wrong time for you, clearly.

[BROADWAYFAN3]

Posted: 6/17/04 at 8:06am

My partner and I also left at the intermission, because we were bored. It just wan't funny. Too much hype I guess, we expected to LOL