When it first premiered in 1939, some reviews of Te L te Fxes painted the h itl o


Hubbard family as villains. Lillian Hellman was distraught to find audiences viewing these characters as villainous as that was not her intention at all.


―I never see characters as monstrously as audiences do.‖ - Hellman


Ivo van Hove shares Hellman‘s view and wants his audience to see each character as a real, whole human being with influences and motives and to be able to relate to the characters. To that end, Ivo makes this production of T


itl oe


contemporary and relevant. This production is going to look and sound very different from most other productions.


T he L te Fx itl oes is set in Alabama in 1900. However, Lillian Hellman never


believed that this story of trickery, deceit, and greed was exclusive to these characters or this time period. As the character Ben Hubbard, the oldest brother, remarks:


―There are hundreds of Hubbards sitting in rooms like this throughout the


country. All their names aren‘t Hubbard, but they are all Hubbards and they will own this country someday.‖


The play debuted in 1939, ten years after the nation plunged into the Great Depression due to overspending and overinvestment. And now we are presenting this play at a time of deep recession and serious economic troubles throughout the world due to recklessness and greed. As Hellman points out and van Hove strives to demonstrate, the themes of this play are, unfortunately, as timeless as human nature.


Prompt: What were the modern elements Ivo added in this production?


Why would Ivo have decided to not place the play in its historic setting, Alabama in 1900? What did it add to your experience of the play?


Can you imagine what a historically set production of T he L te Fxesmight look and sound itl o


like? How do you think your experience of the play would have changed if you saw that production? Would you have been able to make the links to modern society?


What part of the show you just saw might have made you aware the script is set in 1900 Alabama and not modern day?


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he L te Fxs


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