THE STORY: Benny Silverman, a celebrated comic, has revived his career via television after many years of forced inactivity following his having been named on the Hollywood blacklist of the Fifties. Now his actress daughter, Norma, has been cast in a play to be directed by Leo Greshen, the man who had testified against him before the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities, and suddenly Benny must deal again with a moral crisis that he has tried to put behind him. At his daughter’s urging he meets with Leo, a confrontation in which initial reserve gradually gives way to a provocative and increasingly passionate exchange of ideas and convictions until Benny, rising to the occasion with biting, devastating wit, lays to rest the sense of outrage and injustice that has preyed on his conscience for so many bitter years.
Winner of the Heideman and Society of Midland Authors Awards.
An absorbing and brilliantly executed play concerned with the infamous Hollywood blacklist.
“THE VALUE OF NAMES has it all: a provocative subject, superb writing, a consistently engrossing story, and an almost overwhelming emotional wallop at its end. A wonderful play.” —Chicago Tribune.
“…demonstrates that the drama of ideas can be the most exalted of blood sports.” —Time Magazine.
“…almost perfect.” —Variety.
