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'Princes' Lifts Too Heavy A Burden, Fails to Reign

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From: The Washington Post
Date: 20041009
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Two historical figures meet inside a modern politician's head. This is the clever setup of "Princes & Principles," a dry one-act play based on dueling dialogues between political bad boy Niccolo Machiavelli and Enlightenment goody-goody Cesare Beccaria. The production began a three-day run Thursday at the Stanislavsky Theater Studio.

The form of two philosophers having a dialogue is as old as the Greek hills and needs no updating to be modern. But this form does need plenty of dramatic characterization to bring it alive. Otherwise it comes off like two guys reading a textbook. That's what ...

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