'Pad' presents personal paradox

By Peter Bellamy A zinger of a personal paradox is evident in the powerful drama "The Last Pad," which is having its first Cleveland area performances at Berea Summer Theater.

As a play about three condemned men on death row, it is seemingly an indictment of capital punishment and an eloquent denial of man's right to take human life.

Yet it was playwright William Inge who, after some brilliant successes in the American theater, acted as his own judge and executioner, committing suicide in 1973.

Thus, the mental torture of one of his condemned prisoners, who so desper ately wants to live, is the more poignant as one reflects upon the personal hell which led Inge to conclude that life was not worth the candle.

In his final. agonized moments. which came in the wake of several years of bitter failure, it is obvious that Inge could not believe in the validity of his condemned character's reasons for wishing so passionately to live.

Although the play does have a positive dramatic impact and is splendidly directed by William A. Allman, it is not for the squeamish or those who object to seamy language and nasty situations.

What humor there is in the play is macabre. The realistic condemned cells with their naked light bulbs, steel floors, bars and ceilings, sink and bare cot and toilet bowl are hardly a cheerful locale.

The constant clanging of steel doors as visitors and guards file in and out of death row, plus the dimming of the lights when the electric chair does its grisly work, are also not calculated to elevate the spirits.

Although Inge was never on a death row, except his personal one, he projects the despair of its inmates

and the brutalization of both guards and prisoners in a trenchant. gripping man-

ner.

There are three men on the play's death row. One is 2 middle-aged mechanic who murdered a man during a robbery. The second is a homosexual, who killed his mother and grandmoth-

er and is glad of it. The third is a young man who murdered his pregnant wife.

Jon Kilpatrick gives an arrestingly provocative performance as the bitterly cynical and acidly witty homosexual, who killed his mother and grandmother because he thought they made him what he was.

Kirk Shepard evokes compassion as the young man slated for death within hours, although the motivation of his stage character is obscure. Jim Castanien as the middle-aged killer is a familiar study in human contradictions.

Gary Haberman is a pitiful object as the father most concerned as to how much money his condemned son will leave him. Rhoda Rosen as the mechanic's wife expresses a sanctimonious optimism more depressing than her husband's immediate fate.

Steve Lavino's set and lighting are grimly realistic. There will be an extra performance of "The Last Pad" at 8 p.m. Mond