‘House’ Is Too Full

Yes, just about everyone was at the Mark Taper Forum, as Greg Braxton pointed out (“Shaking the Foundations,” April 12) in “House Arrest: An Introgression,” and that may be a problem for Gordon Davidson and Anna Deavere Smith.

There’s no argument that Smith is in the process of developing a provocative play, but please don’t try to cram a course in American social history into two hours, and then follow it with a Clinton-type talk-show conversation with experts and the audience participating in a verbal slugfest.

There are many wonderful, thought-provoking ideas raised by “House Arrest.” Here’s hoping Smith can fine-tune this play to the point where her message will reach a larger audience.

LEO WEILMANN, Woodland Hills

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A 13-year-old girl learns from “House Arrest” that the two greatest presidents of the 19th century, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, are racist? Viewing the world with 20th century eyes, one could conclude that most people from centuries past--even black persons--were racist. But for their times, you could have hardly found two more progressive people in positions of power.

The fact that Anna Deavere Smith--and so many others from the radical left--can only see the world through their politically correct prisms is a tragedy of this century. And, as evident from the girl’s quote, a tragedy that Smith and others of her ilk are only too eager to pass on to those who will be leaders of the next millennium.

ALAN CAWI, Alhambra