The Theater: In a Mood for Rape

LIFE CLASS

by DAVID STOREY

Of all David Storey's plays, this one, bravely produced by the Manhattan Theater Club, is the strangest. In Home, The Changing Room and The Contractor, each of which won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award as the best play of its season, Storey austerely refused to proffer any hints as to the specific meaning of the work. In Life Class, he scatters clues with abandon, rather like confetti at a wedding, which often blinds viewers to the event it is intended to celebrate.

In equally uncharacteristic fashion, British Playwright Storey makes extended comments on the relationship of...