In the 1940s and 50s, at the height of the Red Scare in the US, Congress’ House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) targeted Hollywood as a hub of subversive Communist activity and held high-profile hearings that pressured artists to testify about their political affiliations and “name names” amongst their peers.
Those named faced blacklisting by Hollywood studios, career destruction and, in some cases, imprisonment.
Amongst the famous individuals caught up in the congressional cross-hairs were the acclaimed director Elia Kazan, who named eight former colleagues in his hearing, and his one-time friend and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Arthur Miller, who was held in contempt for refusing to do so at his.
Both metaphorically presented impassioned reasonings for their positions in their works: Miller in 1953’s stage classic The Crucible and Kazan in the 1954 film On the Waterfront.
It is The Crucible’s tragic hero John Proctor’s desperate pre-gallows plea – “How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” – that kept echoing through my mind during Jeffrey Sweet’s The Value of Names.
Set in the 1980s, when it first premiered in the US where there have been myriad productions, Sweet’s three-hander centres on up-and-coming actress Norma (Katherine Lyle) whose relationship with her once-blacklisted father Benny (Jeremy Kareken) is put under new strain when she learns that Leo (Tim Hardy), the director taking over the play she’s rehearsing, is the one who gave Benny’s name to HUAC.
Norma is faced with the choice of giving up a career-making role or hurting her father. Benny is faced with the knowledge his daughter is working closely with the man who betrayed him, and Leo comes face to face for the first time with the consequences of his actions so many years ago.
For post-show Q&A, I was joined by Jeffrey Sweet, who has returned from the US for this run following the success of last year’s transatlantic transfer of his play Kunstler, about American civil rights legal legend William Kunstler, along with the cast.
Amongst the topics covered in a thought-provoking discussion with the audience: Kazan versus Miller, fact versus fiction, coded metaphors, modern resonances, history repeating itself, and alternative stage names.
The Value of Names continues at London’s White Bear Theatre until 1 March 2025.
Q&A video
With thanks to Rob Bell.
Q&A photos
With thanks to Eileen Goodway.
On social media
Onto my next post-show!
Signs ready for tonight’s @hintoflimeprod.bsky.social’sQ&A to #TheValueOfNames, the UK debut of Jeffrey Sweet’s dramedy about the aftermath of McCarthyism on Hollywood.
Any Qs for writer/director & cast?
🎟️ At White Bear Theatre: whitebeartheatre.co.uk/whatson/the-…
— Terri Paddock (@terripaddock.bsky.social) February 13, 2025 at 6:06 PM
In #TheValueOfNames, rising star Norma must decide whether to stay in a play after learning that, during the Red Scare, her new director derailed her father’s career by naming him as a Communist.
Katherine Lyle, Jeremy Kareken & Tim Hardy star
at the White Bear for @hintoflimeprod.bsky.social.— Terri Paddock (@terripaddock.bsky.social) February 13, 2025 at 6:06 PM
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