Last Call

Mulisch has hit full stride as a writer with this latest novel set in contemporary Amsterdam. As in the critically praised The Assault , he is fascinated by the relationship between light and dark, reality and illusion. Uli Bouwmeester, an aging variety artiste, is asked by the director of a playwrights' collective to star in a new play. Hurricane combines a modern drama about the final performance of Pierre de Vries, a famous turn-of-the-century actor, with scenes from The Tempest in which de Vries played Prospero. Uli, in the meantime, is coming to life. To a washed-up actor, a former Nazi collaborator who lives with his elderly sister, the opportunity seems like redemption. As rehearsals progress, Uli becomes so absorbed in his role that the line between theatrical illusion and reality is breached. In one eerie sequence, he literally descends into the bowels of the earth and finds himself in the arms of a transvestite. Mulisch has created a richly textured work, a vivid portrait of modern-day Amsterdam. (Mar.)