The Little Foxes – Lillian Hellman

Contemporary Theatre Stage

First performance: Friday, October 31, 1997

In every city, in every village, in every humble dwelling, there will be someone fighting for a better world.

Lillian Hellman

We all seek answers in dark times. The questions being asked are vast and numerous, suffocating us in a harsh reality designed for winners and the strong. We are fortunate because we have a platform. We have “theatre”. We speak with borrowed words, words that we choose. Our choices are our own voice of protest. This year, we have chosen The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman.
All of us here, both on stage and behind the scenes, have been captivated by the sharp realism of this “First Lady” of American Theatre, and have tried our best to bring her Little Foxes to life. We want to join her in conveying what she so desperately expressed through her works: That happiness can be found in the beauty of thought, soul, and human relationships. Injustice, exploitation, self-interest, greed, and love of money turn humans into dangerous creatures. “There are people who tear people apart, but there are also those who see people being torn apart and do nothing.” These words from The Little Foxes, written in 1939, bleed into our modern sensitivity and sharpen our thoughts. Hellman loved humanity deeply. This is why she sharply criticised the trend of a time in which people were led to prey on one another, sacrificing their vitality and ideals in the process. She attempted to orient them toward a different perspective on life, toward deeper, substantial choices. This revolutionary conscience spoke of values, ideals, of “something that, for lack of a better word, I would name humanity”. Today, the dawn of the 21st century finds the play satirising the inevitability of human destiny, making Hellman’s heroes tragically recognisable figures. We worked with much love on The Little Foxes, and we hope that through its harsh, raw realism on their — and our — times, this production can achieve what “theatre” is capable of at its best: To awaken us all, even as the foxes among us become more fearsome than ever before.

Katerina Maragou, On the Contemporary Theatre Stage. From the performance programme.