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  • The Fifth Column: A Play by Ernest Hemingway
  • Ruth Prigozy
The Fifth Column: A Play by Ernest Hemingway. Directed by Jonathan Bank. The Mint Theater. 311 West 43 rd Street, New York, NY. 26 March through 18 May 2008.

The Fifth Column, as Hemingway scholars know, has never been presented as Hemingway wrote it, but was produced in 1940, "adapted by Benjamin Glazer" from the play that Scribner's published in 1938. A wonderful booklet available at the Mint Theater (without charge) describes the history of the 1940 production and we realize that when we see this production, we are indeed witnessing its debut.

As the curtain rises, we see that the stage is divided in two: the bedroom to the audience's left is that of Dorothy Bridges. There is a window to the far left that cannot protect the occupant from the turmoil outside—gunfire, shelling—the Spanish Civil War at its most turbulent. The room on the right is Philip Rawlings's—only a bed, a closet, and a table and chair. Here we witness the shocking murder of the twenty-year-old Comrade Wilkinson (one of the few really dramatic moments in the play), meet the wounded Max, and observe Philip's efforts to plan for a battle that he accepts as lasting for fifty years.

The production is about as good as anyone might wish for, but the problems lie in the play itself: Dorothy wants to live the kind of romantic life with Philip that she has always dreamed about, and it is difficult to conceive of her as the writer that she insists she is. Her dialogue is vapid, and it is difficult for the viewer to connect with her. Philip is somewhat more believable, particularly as a Hemingway hero. He will not speak about the horrors that he has witnessed, but he cannot sleep at night because he has been so wounded. But he will persist, and will not let his feelings for her stop him in his mission. If this sounds like a typical Hemingway hero, well, he is, but superficially. The play is salvaged by the supporting cast: Antonio, the Spanish officer in charge of the loyalists; Anita, the prostitute; and Max, the Communist agent. There is little depth to these characterizations, but the actors give them color and dimension—and I do not think the static quality of the production is the fault of the actors who are all highly skilled. It is Hemingway's dialogue that defeats them at every turn. [End Page 135]

As in the printed play, the colorful world outside of the Hotel Florida (where Hemingway wrote the play in 1937 during the height of the war) is far more interesting than the static scenes inside, even though except for Act II, we do not see that world. Only when danger threatens to intrude does the play attain some measure of intensity. Indeed, the opening sounds are those of bombs, and the viewer is immediately transfixed, but soon the excitement fades. In Act II, there is again too much talk, as Anita and Philip sit in a bar discussing their feelings. I felt that this scene was almost a satirical riff on Hemingway.

Nevertheless, Jonathan Bank has done superb work in adapting Hemingway's play: the settings, the acting, the dedication to Hemingway's intent are perfect. The defects lie in The Fifth Column, not in this worthy effort to bring it to the stage as the author intended. I hope that anyone interested in Ernest Hemingway, in Martha Gellhorn (Dorothy Bridges is clearly modeled on her), and in the Spanish Civil War was able to see this production, for it is unlikely that the play will be produced in the near future—and if it is, probably not as well as the Mint Company has done.

Ruth Prigozy
Hofstra University
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