EXERCISE, THE

by Carlino, Lewis John

Lewis John Carlino has drawn a gripping and completely fascinating portrait of a man and woman, trapped in an unreal and yet hauntingly real world, both at the same time. They are actors, caught up in their hate-love game, standing on a rehearsal stage living out their fears, and their fantasies with almost uncontrollable vengeance. Desperation demands they play on. Carlino calls them simply “The Actor” and “The Actress.” They appear early for a rehearsal on a bare stage. They begin to go over lines for a new play. It is immediately apparent that they have been lovers but that a strange anxiety has invaded this love. Soon they decide to try a bit of “improvisation.” It is then that the hate-love world, riddled with fear and insecurity, comes forth. Reality turns on and off like the footlights. One minute he is acting out a “scene” about a mythical Irish uncle seducing the local barmaid. The scene changes almost nightmare style and they are both reliving a very real and dreadful episode in their own lives. They seem always trying to bring life into focus. It is a desperate struggle for them. But a struggle which, in the end, purges them of the nagging repressions and fears which have poisoned their psyches, leaving them free at last to face—and know—themselves and the world to which they must relate.