Introduction & Overview of The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel by David Rabe

The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel Introduction

David Rabe's The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel was the first American play of stature to deal with the experience of the Vietnam War. At least one historian of the Vietnam era, Philip Beidler writing in American Literature and the Experience of Vietnam, found that Rabe made "the most important contributions to the dramatic literature of Vietnam during the period 1970-75." After being rejected by numerous regional and experimental theaters, the play was first produced professionally in 1971 at the Public Theatre by Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival, one of the country's most prestigious production organizations. Rabe's professional debut was a success: Pavlo Hummel enjoyed a run of 363 performances and received predominantly enthusiastic critical response. Clive Barnes of the New York Times acclaimed Rabe as a "new and authentic voice of our theatre." For this play, Rabe received the Village Voice's Obie Award for distinguished playwriting, and a...
(read more)