Name: The Mound Builders
Genre: Drama
Released: 1976-02-11
Duration: 1 h 26 min
Rating: 6.2
Cast: Tanya Berezin, Brad Dourif, Stephanie Gordon

Mediocre play, but Brad Dourif is excellent!

This play is primarily about a bunch of archaeologists excavating a series of prehistoric mounds in the Midwest.  Unfortunately, they are battling the clock because a dam has been built and within a couple of years the area will be underwater.  In addition to this time-related conflict, the archeologists are renting a house from an uneducated young local named Chad Jasker, who sees the new lake as his chance to develop his property and capitalize on an influx of recreational traffic.  The climax of the play comes when the archeologists dash Jasker's hopes for a new prosperity in the region by encouraging the government to halt the filling of the lake in order to preserve the mounds.

Overall, this is a pretty mediocre play.  The characters are not at all compelling, except for one notable exception - Chad Jasker, played with great success by Brad Dourif, who is best known for his later career as the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play films, as well as his Oscar nominated role as Billy Bibbitt in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  Dourif's talents have been underappreciated in the past 15-20 years, mostly because of the nut-job roles to which he's been relegated by unimaginative casting directors, but he shines in this role.  Watch the play just for his performance, and you won't be disappointed.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

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The Mound Builders

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