A Life Like the Rest

<p>The survival of a rural Virginia black family of five of which both parents and one of two sons are seriously mentally retarded in the face of efforts by a misguided social worker and her agency to make them wards of the state is the story of A LIFE LIKE THE REST Kevin Arkadie's play ... Indeed the moral superiority of this family is so obvious that the social worker does not stand a chance against it; she may frighten them and even cruelly injure several of them but by the end of the first of ten scenes in this two-act play the audience can be confident she will lose ... The characters engage one's emotions early and hold onto them through episodes that raise fear delight laughter sometimes wonder ... Mr Arkadie's talent for creating dramatic characters whose wit and good humor amuse one without diminishing the peril of their situation. -D J R Bruckner The New York Times</p>