6 Jan 2009
Hedda Gabler
By Henrik Ibsen, adapted by Christopher Shinn
With Mary Louise Parker, Michael Cerveris, Paul Sparks, Peter Stormare, Lois Markle, Ana Reeder and Helen Carey
Roundabout Theatre Company
Despite the fact that I’m a playwright I’ve never read Hedda Gabler. I probably shouldn’t admit that in public. I know the play, I mean who doesn’t in this business, but I’ve never read it. Sure it was on class reading lists and there were about 5 other productions in New York last year that I should have seen, but I didn’t. That I aside I know what happens at the end, but not really how they get there (I suppose Brecht would approve).
I have been told that Heddatron, a new adaptation of the play performed with robots was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, I didn’t see it – this is starting to sound repetitive. So, Hedda done with robots – GOOD. Hedda done with the actors impersonating robots –BAD.
Maybe I’m being harsh. It was the first preview, and I probably shouldn’t even be reviewing it, but none-the-less. Parker’s deadpan delivery of every single line got a little monotonous, after it stopped being drôle somewhere in the first act. And maybe its my modern day prejudice but I felt like Hedda was trapped because she put herself there, it wasn’t anyone else’s fault, which made her suicide seem overly melodramatic. And everyone’s reactions to it were rather mundane, ‘oh, there goes Hedda again, trying to be the center of attention’.
I have seen both Lois Markle (Berte, the maid) and Ana Reeder (Mrs. Thea Elvsted, Hedda’s competition/companion) before in other plays. I enjoyed Markle’s performance in The American Dream and The Sandbox at the Cherry Lane. There’s something about Ana Reeder that makes me feel like she was the wrong choice for everything I’ve seen her do. Except for No Country for Old Men, she worked for that role. I wish I could explain how I feel about her as an actress, but I lack the words, or thought process.
I hope that the production improves. I know the TV stars put not-regular-theater-goer-butts-in-seats, but I’d like the plays to still be worth seeing for people who know what they’re looking at.
4 Jan 2009
The Cripple of Inishmaan
By Martin McDonagh
Atlantic Theater Company
I have never seen a Martin McDonagh play before due to numerous unfortunate circumstances that I will not elaborate here. I also didn’t see this one. But the gods of theatre relented and I got a last minute ticket. It was completely worth the wait.
McDonagh is hysterical. Although he is know for his scary plays The Pillowman and The Lieutenant of Inishmore, this one is really funny, but doesn’t lack its own unexpected twists and seat gripping tension.
The cast was stellar. They hit every beat and sang every note. Kerry Condon was a delight as the rough talking women of desire of the lead. Condon brought an earthy rawness to the character that made her hard not to love.
No one likes to read good reviews, so I’ll stop. Just go see it.
3 Jan 2009
EQUUS
With Richard Griffiths, Daniel Radcliff
Broadhurst Theatre
I’m still not sure how I feel about this play and I’ve had a lot of time to think about it between watching and writing. I think Radcliff made the right choice in doing this play. He has been able to show the entertainment business (and fans) that he’s not just Harry Potter, which will be an invaluable career move.
However, I felt like Griffiths was about 3centimeters off from the rest of the play. My date to the performance said, “he was just phoning it in”, but I’m not sure I completely agree with that. I know it’s nit-picky, but I also didn’t really like the color of the costumes of the men playing the horses. It reminded me of bad 70’s velour sweat suits (like the modern Juicy incarnation, but in a color they would never make). I think it was supposed to be chestnut. And looking at the writer’s note about the horses’ costumes I think they got it right, but that doesn’t mean I liked it.
As for the play itself, well, I had problems. And I have more to say but cannot articulate it at this time in a constructive way. Maybe later.
30 Dec 2008
SPEED-THE-PLOW
By David Mamet
With Raúl Esparza, Norbert Leo Butz and Elizabeth Moss
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The scandal around this production is that it originally opened with Jeremy Piven (who received generally mixed reviews from my friends who saw him) and he dropped about due to rather dubious medical reasons. The rumor circling through New York theatre people is that we was bored doing the same thing over and over, and sitting around backstage. Although I can’t image he did more backstage-sitting during this show than he does behind-camera sitting on his TV show. The rest of the rumor is that because of his bored he became a stage managers nightmare, but all of this is unconfirmed.
Not that I saw Piven on stage, but all I can say is ‘Thank goodness he dropped out’. Norbert Leo Butz is amazing. I saw him after he was off book (he performed the first evening, at least, on book due to the miniscule rehearsal period). Butz brought a sarcastic vitality to the role of newly made TV mogul Bobby Gould, you would have thought Butz had grown up in Hollywood.
The vibrancy of the relationships between Butz and Raúl Esparza, and Butz and Elizabeth Moss was outstanding. A good play show by like a good game of tennis. You keep hitting the ball back and forth for as long as possible, slowly pushing your opponent to the limits of their ability, but not going any further, and they are teasing you in just the same way. Slowly drawing them out, enjoying the cat-and-mouse game of it. You could see that in the three relationships between Butz, Esparza and Moss.
Unfortunately Butz is only standing in until William H. Macy (a veritable Mamet scholar) is fully rehearsed and ready to join the cast, which is unfortunate. Butz is superb, I fear Macy might be too old to properly meld with Esparza and Moss and that poor understudy who thought he got his big break when Piven left. To him my heart goes out (Jordon Lage, for anyone who is interested). It will be interesting to hear from someone who sees all three of the actors, if nothing else this is definitely a lesson in how an actor shapes a play.
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