SOURCE: "Saucy! Schmaltzy! Slow Moving!," in New York Magazine, Vol. 27, No. 45, November 14, 1994, pp. 79-80.

[In the following excerpt, Simon reviews Love! Valour! Compassion!, examining the play's reliance on sexual humor and contending that the themes are poorly developed.]

When, over three centuries ago, John Dryden initiated heroic drama, he declared that "love and valour ought to be the subject of it." To this program, Terrence McNally has added compassion and three exclamation points. Thus we get Love! Valour! Compassion!, a long play about three long weekends (Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day). Encapsulating the lives of eight homosexuals, two of them played by the same actor, it means to be memorable, forthcoming, a labor of love.

The locale is an isolated Dutchess County lakeside summer house, where Gregory, a famous but fading choreographer, is struggling with a new ballet while also planning a drag version of Swan...