Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You

(1979) by Christopher Durang — In this satiric comedy about parochial education and authority figures, former students confront the righteous nun who taught them. "Anyone can write an angry play," wrote Frank Rich in praise of Durang, who continues to work off-Broadway, "but only a writer of real talent can write an angry play that remains funny and controlled even in its most savage moments."

ASoldier's Play (1981) by Charles Fuller—Devel­oped at the Negro Ensemble Company, this Pulitzer prizewinner is a murder mystery in which, as Walter Kerr wrote in The New York Times, "the excitement comes not from tracking down the criminal, but instead from track­ing down the identity of the victim." Investigating the character of the victim, a vicious black sergeant on a south­ern military base in 1944, allows Fuller to explore the uneasy contradictions of racism,, both black and white.

THE ARTS 237

DIALOGUE

Jack Nicholson

From Film Comment

After a decade of low-budget films, Jack Nicholson achieved movie stardom in 1969 with the unheralded hit Easy Rider. Since then, he has created a variety of menacing yet oddly sympathetic characters in such movies as Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Shining. Unlike many stars, Nicholson has never sought a glamorous screen image or insisted on leading roles. In fact, in Terms of Endearment (1983) he played a seedy, out-of-shape astronaut, yet he won all major movie awards for supporting actor.

This risk-taking independence is evident throughout Nicholson л long movie career, in his directing and screenwriting as well as his acting. As the producer of his recent film, P.rizzi's Honor, says, "He is prepared to do whatever the part requires, and anything he does becomes in itself interesting. "Here, Nicholson talks unth journalist and screenwriter Beverly Walker about the challenges inherent in Hollywood filmmaking.

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