Acrobats & Line

by Israel Horovitz

ACROBATS. Two acrobats go valiantly through the complexities of their routine, smiling toothily, bowing on cue, and, all the while, conducting a sotto voce but lacerating marital spat. He threatens to drop her, she vows to leave him-but then the lights come up, the final bows are taken, and, subtly but surely, we are aware that their mutual dependency is still stronger than the tensions that have been so wittily and amusingly exposed. (1 man, 1 woman.) LINE. One by one a group of unacquainted people come together to form a line for some unnamed, upcoming event. The first to arrive is a burly, beer-drinking, sweat-shirted "middle American"; then an alienated, voluble, Mozart-loving youth; a taciturn type who brings his own folding stool; and, finally, a shapely, promiscuous girl and her spineless, older husband. Gradually inexorably, the struggle for first place begins, and as they lie, cheat, wrestle and push to gain the lead spot an extraordinary panorama of human frailty is made explosively and hilariously real. As, in the end, are the deviousness, the competitiveness, and the pettiness of the small, wasting battles with which we litter our lives. (4 men, 1 woman.)"

Genres: Plays, Theatre

58 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1971

About the author

Israel Horovitz has written more than 80 plays, several of which have been translated into as many as 30 languages and performed worldwide. His play Line reached 50 years of continuous performance, off-Broadway, at 13th Street Repertory Theatre.

Horovitz is Founding Artistic Director of Gloucester Stage Company, and of the New York Playwrights Lab. For two decades, he taught a bilingual screenwriting workshop with writers from la Fémis, France’s national film school, and Columbia University’s graduate film program. Has also written or adapted numerous plays for BBC Radio. (Click on link for listing and description of plays.)

He is married to Gillian Adams-Horovitz, former British National Marathon Champion and Record holder, and former USA Track & Field (Masters) Marathon Champion. The Horovitz family divides its time among homes in Gloucester, Massachusetts, NYC’s Greenwich Village, and London’s Dulwich Village. Mr. Horovitz visits France, frequently, where he often directs French-language productions of his plays. He is the most-produced American playwright in French theatre history.

Reviews

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basic Plot: 2 plays in 1 book. Acrobats: A husband and wife acrobat team want to divorce, but rely on each other. Line: A bunch of people wait in a line and interact.

At some point, I am really going to have to have a conversation with the theatre teacher who collected some of the crap she left behind in the classroom I inherited. Honestly. I find myself asking "WTF did I just read?" entirely too often.

I liked the concepts of both of these plays, but the execution of them was just bizarre. Acrobats was at least fairly relatable and straightforward. A marriage is a balancing act, and even if a couple isn't getting along, they rely on each other to get things done. Line, though, was just f-ed up. I don't even have words at this point. I need brain bleach.

[Lourdes Piñeiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

La línea, representación en el Auditori de Sant Cugat del Vallès, 11 febrero 2024.

¿Para qué ser el primero? Para nada... ; realmente, nadie lo consigue. Esta es la máxima de la obra. Constantes situaciones dramáticas y absurdas muy bien coreografiadas.

Me ha molestado la excesiva reiteración del concepto, de la metáfora sobre la que gravita la obra. ¿Por qué ese recrearse en una sexualidad utilitaria? supongo que sirve como reflexión de que ese mensaje existía cuando se escribió esa obra. Parece como si la mujer utilizara su cuerpo para buscar opciones y situarse...; terrible, pero mejor no olvidar lo que fue... Ahora nos ofende y nos parece terrible verlo en escena.