
photo by T Charles Erickson
“Anthony Clarvoe's acerbic new comedy eavesdrops on the hot-wired world of high-pressure scheming and manipulation that accompanies a breakthrough in technology. It's an insinuating satire of glossy commercialism, laced with sharp, cynical humor. The play pops and crackles with witty dialogue....
“CTRL+ALT+DELETE is the keyboard
command to start up a computer after it has crashed. The playwright, Anthony
Clarvoe, provides an ingenious payoff that drives home the larger meaning of a
jargonistic title, no matter if you're a technophobe or an information
technology specialist. And that payoff is warming, the promise of a ray of hope
for us all. It may sound odd that an inside look at insider antics and
duplicities in the I P O (read: stock manipulation) game (read: racket) should
turn upon its cynical self in time for an upbeat ending. Having it both ways is
not the way of satire, and CTRL+ALT+DELETE has the smarts and social
consciousness to rate as satire, true and unstinting. Against all odds, Mister
Clarvoe pulls it off. Shameless image-making is laid bare, not to mention
everyone's lust for cashing in.
…the playwright transforms a remorseless statement of single-minded
contemporary savagery into an affirming ode to the visionary. The hard-boiled
comedy with the cultish title turns out to be a morality play for everyman, its
heartbeat unstilled.”
Alvin Klein, New York Times
4 M 2 F
I S B N 0-88145-254-8 $12.95