Brustein is one of the best-known theatre critics of the late twentieth century. In this essay, he reviews a 1992 production of Ford's play. While finding that there is much to recommend in the production, the critic ultimately finds fault with director Joan Akalaitis's efforts to contemporize the play.

JoAnne Akalaitis's first production as the New York Public Theater's artistic director displays her virtues in abundance—alas, the defects of those virtues too. Her version of John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore is undeniably terrific to look at. Set in Fascist Italy during the' 30s, the production has a design by John Conklin that proves to be the best performance on stage—a compound of futurist and surrealist elements that ravish your eye while demonstrating how easily art can become a slave to tyranny. As interpolated cries of "Duce" fill the air and posters extolling God, Country...