Word: claggart
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...impressed into naval service at a time when the French threatened the British navy on one hand and the spirit of mutiny sapped it on the other. His shipmates are a sorry, ragtag lot, full of hate and fear for the sadistic master-at-arms, Mister Claggart. They find in Billy Budd's artless warmth a hope that somehow he can save them from Claggart's bullying; even the Avenger's aloof Captain Vere takes a liking to the pure-minded...
...Second Act opens that you realize how grossly this dualism has been presented to you, for the ship's officers who then appear are quite human--and all ably acted. Here the true theme of the play enters, for later, when Billy Budd has killed the lying, all-evil Claggart, almost inadvertently, it is they who must decide whether or not Billy Budd should be executed. This decision represents a choice between justice and maintaining an order by law. It is Captain Vere, the central character of the play, who convinces his fellow officers they must "maintain an order...
...plot elaborates the Good and Evil theme, to be sure, but not nearly enough to account for the success of this production. That must be owed to the excellent acting of Jerry Kilty as Captain Vere, that of Peter Temple as Claggart, John Kerr, as Billy Budd, and to nearly everyone else in the cast, especially Paul Sparer and Paul Ballantyne, and, of course, to the directing of Albert Marre...
...production which has returned to the Brattle Theatre holds your attention every minute and leaves you with the feeling that you have seen an unusually good dramatic work. It is hard to see how it is done. Certainly the characters, Billy Budd, the personification of good, and Claggart, the personification of evil, are that old morality theme incarnate. And the first act suffers a bit in drawing this Maichean point too bluntly. Maybe you could get away with it in the Nineteenth century, but this is the Twentieth century, and this boy Billy Budd is just a little...
First-nighters sat through the first act in a ho-hum mood, but the second brought them to life with Billy's fight with one of Claggart's henchmen and Claggart's bitter monologue rejoicing in his own depravity -sung by Basso Frederick Dalberg. Britten's triumph was the third act, in which Captain Vere (Tenor Peter Pears) walks to Billy's door, accompanied by long-measured chords, to deliver the death verdict. When the curtain fell for the act, there were seconds of silence, and then shouts of "Bravo, Benjy." Billy's fourth...