Perhaps one would have waited for the complete work to appear before attempting a review, but this little tidbit of a longer piece is too tempting to let pass. It consists of a dialogue between Ned and Fred (other characters intrude later) who refer to various incidents of incest, necrophlia, and murder, all in a rather absurdist, offhand manner. One wants to read more of this!--John M. Bennett
A portion of one of Grumman's plays, somewhere beyond Surrealism or the antics of the Cabaret Voltaire. For the space of a few lines the dialog is odd, but logical, then complications arise, sometimes by intellectual extension of the dialog, sometimes by poetic flight, and we tremble joyously as our nerves are ripped out by these wicked imaginative turns. There are problems with wheelbarrow theft, and beaten mothers, a man named Wally drug around with a rope, and other things that begin to make strange sense. Personas shift and veer into one another, characters pontificate and confess. But through what could be agony a sense of joy is dancing and the plays begins to reveal itself in the mind of the beholder. This is a delight to read and it would be better still to see the whole play performed.--Jake Berry
This review originally appeared in TapRoot Reviews #5,
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