A classic play about the complexities of a life together and the stories we tell ourselves to make it through. I'm already partial to this play, but was happy to see that it stands the test of time. This production is a good one with a very strong cast and just enough excessive drinking.(Bourbon, gin, brandy... "Martha? Rubbing alcohol for you?")
The Performers With only 4 people in the play, it's important that each actor is just as strong as the next. Laurie Metcalf does not disappoint as the manic Martha, and Rupert Everett matches her energy as George. My only complaint is that Metcalf plays the role a tad too comedic, especially in the beginning, eliciting too-big guffaws from the audience that interrupt the artful build up of tension. Russell Tovey and Patsy Ferran both hold their own as the young couple, Nick and Honey, audience to and victims of the crazed games George and Martha play. Watching Ferran get less and less polite as she drinks more and more brandy is especially fun. The Set A wonderfully built out living room with detailed touches to accurately depict a lived-in home (a half-completed jigsaw puzzle, the big stack of books on the floor, so so many tumbler glasses strewn across surfaces). In Act I, a massive bookcase stretches across the stage filled with books, art, tchotchkes, vinyls, and more. These begin to disappear in Act II, leaving gaping holes on the shelves. In Act III, the bookcase itself is gone - there is nothing left to hide behind. |
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