The Old Man and the Stage

Comments (0) By Penn Bullock Thursday, Feb 18 2010

It’ll be exciting to see how Caldwell Theatre adapts The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway’s 1952 novella, to the stage. After all, most of the action takes place on a skiff in the Gulf Stream, where a Cuban fisherman is trying to reel in a monster-sized marlin that would have any sportfisherman crapping his pants. The fish is 18 feet long and relentless. But how will Caldwell re-create a rocking boat, the sea, and the marlin? And will the old man land his catch?

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The novella made Hemingway’s career, earning him a Pulitzer Prize and later the Nobel Prize in Literature. Despite the skeletal plot, it’s regarded by its many analysts as a biblical allegory or a Moby Dick-like statement of Hemingway’s “philosophy of manhood.” Clive Cloverton, who was brought in to save Caldwell from a depressed economy last year, is just the daring director needed to turn the stage into open ocean.

The Old Man and the Sea opens at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Caldwell Theatre (7901 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton). Tickets cost $34 to $55, or $10 for students. It runs until March 28. Call 561-241-7432, or visit caldwelltheatre.com.
Sun., Feb. 21, 2 p.m., 2010