Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?
| Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Don Petersen |
| Characters | Bickham, Fullendorf, Conrad |
| Date premiered | February 25, 1969 |
| Place premiered | Belasco Theatre, New York City |
| Original language | English |
| Setting | A rehabilitation center for juvenille narcotics addicts located on an island in a river bordering on a large industrial city. Present time. |
Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? is a play written in 1969 by Don Petersen. It has three acts, and helped to launch the careers of actors Al Pacino and Ron Thompson.
The title of the play is explained by the character Fullendorf, who said, "Does a tiger wear a necktie? It ain't for us to go straight. We're like the tigers. We always chucked on raw meat. We was raised on it, and we like it."
"Does a tiger wear a necktie? No, it would be against his nature - and reform is against the nature of addicts like Bickham," Clive Barnes explained in his New York Times review.
The story is a racially charged drama about teen drug addicts at a rehabilitation center, located on an island in a river bordering a large industrial city.
An English teacher tries to make a difference in his students' lives. He encounters barriers in trying to do this—the same barriers created by the system that hinders the addicts' development and keeps them coming back.
One addict, Bickham, is a tough teenager who searched for his father and found him working in a seedy barber shop. Upon meeting his son, the barber shows him a dirty photograph.
Contrasting Bickham is Conrad, an African-American addict. Conrad wants to recover and marry his love, Linda. During the play, his character leaves the rehabilitation group to live with his sister, who is also an addict.
Aside from the students, there are only four characters in the rehabilitation center - a teacher, a psychiatrist, a policeman, and the center's principal.
Does A Tiger Wear A Necktie? was directed by Michael Schultz in his Broadway debut after years of professional work with the Negro Ensemble Company, and was produced by Huntington Hartford, an heir to the A&P supermarket empire.
...
Wikipedia