A Delicate Balance

Paul Scofield is outstanding, Hepburn is Hepburn, Kate Reid plays it well, the rest barely get by. The main fault lies in its overwrought source material.

When the plague (of terror) comes, should quarantine be enforced so as to prevent the spread of the disease or do we allow infection in hopes that the immune system will function and ultimately strengthen the organism? Performances perhaps a tad heavy-handed, and Hepburn is a decade too old for the part. Watching this after OPENING NIGHT (both thematising alcoholism), Albee's highly controlled stage direction certainly contrasts with Cassavetes's open style, but the results speak for themselves.