A Literary Catfight, With Context by Cavett - ‘Hellman v. McCarthy’ at Abingdon Theater Company
Charles IsherwoodMarch 26, 2014: “It’s a little odd playing yourself,” Dick Cavett says, after doing so quite convincingly in the new play Hellman v. McCarthy, an Abingdon Theater Company production that opened on Wednesday at the June Havoc Theater. Mr. Cavett then jokes, “The funny thing is I was the second choice for the role.” In fact, it’s hard to imagine this new play by Brian Richard Mori without Mr. Cavett’s astringently funny presence, which adds layers of charm and verisimilitude to a slender dramatic reconsideration of a famous literary feud. Back in 1979, when The Dick Cavett Show was a frequent PBS pit stop for celebrities looking to promote their latest projects, or merely to keep a hold on a sliver of the public spotlight, Mr. Cavett invited the novelist and critic Mary McCarthy for a cozy chat that would ignite something of a literary furor when she was asked which writers she believed were overpraised.
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