DEATHWATCH
Set in a prison cell, Deathwatch focuses on neophyte thugs Maurice and Lefranc, who endlessly vie for the attention of their much admired and imitated cellmate, Green Eyes, a full-fledged murderer. Critics have prattled on about whether it’s Lefranc or Green Eyes who’s elevated to sainthood by committing murder or about the parallels between Deathwatch and Victor Turner’s theory of the liminal and the liminoid; but back here on Planet Earth, the play provides little for a cast or audience to sink their teeth into. Throughout, Maurice and Lefranc seem stuck in the same macho one-upmanship. The prison guard introduced late in the play is somewhat academic, enigmatically expounding upon the existential existence of a guard. And while Green Eyes’ many disturbing poetic monologues give Deathwatch its most provocative moments, Genet seems more interested in putting words in his hero’s mouth than in pushing the play in any particular direction.
