AMERICAN VOICES
In “Sucker,” by Carson McCullers, the story is told in the first person by Pete, a 16-year-old who describes how mean he has been to his 12-year-old cousin, who has lived with Pete’s family since infancy. The younger boy, known as Sucker, got his nickname by being trusting and gullible. “Once, a couple of years ago, I told him that if he’d jump off our garage with an umbrella, it would act as a parachute and he wouldn’t fall hard,” says Pete. “He did it and busted his knee. . . . And the funny thing was that no matter how many times he got fooled, he would still believe me.”
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These three stories are simple but strong on plot and character, which makes them ideal for story theater. “Sonny’s Blues,” by James Baldwin, which made up the second half of the program, is far more complex. Flashbacks complicate the narrative flow, and the narrator, a schoolteacher identified only as Brother, is given to lyrical meditations. Yet this story, directed by Byrne Piven, benefits the most from the story-theater format.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Helene Rosanove.
