SOURCE: "Foote's Giant Step Forward," in New York Post, January 30, 1995.

[An English-born critic, Barnes is the author and editor of several books about the performing arts. In the following favorable review, he discusses the theme of self-delusion in The Young Man from Atlanta.]

Things change suddenly, and with those changes, a life can unfurl in odd shapes, odd shapes casting odder shadows; as we recognize what we took to be true as not quite what we first thought. This is the world of playwright Horton Foote, whose plays are domestic variations on a common theme of relationships, man with his world, people with people, family with family.

The things that happen in that world are always on a human scale of possibility and disappointment. The latest variations are in The Young Man From Atlanta, given its world premiere this weekend at the Kampo Cultural Center by the Signature...