The Last Night of Ballyhoo

The Last Night of Ballyhoo is a powerful piece of drama. We see this powerful genius in its ability to draw laughter and tears from an audience in a single dizzy breath: who can forget Lala's burst of kleptomania, or Sunny's candle-lit Shabbat prayer in the final scene? I was blessed to take part in a community theater production of this play as Lala Levy; as a result of this opportunity, I and the cast came to know intimately the characters of Ballyhoo, and through them we lived the larger whole. From an actress' point of view I can tell you that the striking beauty, quick wit, and profound themes of this play can scarce be rivaled. However, whether one approaches this play as a reader, audience member, or actor, one will become more sensitized to the prejudices that ever haunt our race - the fear of "the other kind," be they separated from us by "the Elbe" or some less tangible distinction. Along with the characters of Ballyhoo we discover anew that there is no "us" and "them" - only "us."

I have read and had the oppurtunity to see this beautiful piece performed. Alfred Uhry knows how to write characters that come to life so you feel like you know them. This play is wonderful and keeps wanting to more about the people of it.

Alfred Uhry strikes again with his second work examining racism and anti-semitism in the American South. In a clever twist, the playwright focuses on the prejudice of Jews of German decent against "the other kind" meaning Jews of Slavic decent. This infinitesimally subtle difference in ethnicity represents a world of difference in Southern Jewish society. Exploiting the significance of such a minor distinction, Mr. Uhry expertly exhibits the lunacy of every type of racism.