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Twenty minutes into this performance I thought, 'Oh no, not yet another dysfunctional American family'. And it was, yet it rose above the genre. Now this reflects upon me, as the 'genre' thus far this year consists of O'Neill's 'Long Day's Journey into Night' with Robyn Nevin and John Hurt, which I did not appreciate one little bit.
Today's performance was predominantly the Steppenwolf Theatre Company from the USA together with Judi Farr in one of the major roles, that of Vi (the name taken from the first wife of T. S. Eliot). This play is only relatively recent and was written by Tracey Lett. Is has similar structures, subjects and ambience to the works of O'Neill, Williams and Miller ... some praise really.
It was long: over 3 hours with 2 intervals. The matinee started at 1pm and we did not come out until 4:30pm. But it was worth it.
The act at the dinner table was fun. Much of the show was fun. A drama that was funny and entertaining. Judi Farr was great.
They had sold out of the script which was a shame. I need to read it as, once again, dumbo here forgot her hearing aides. Come to think of it, I probably liked this because they quoted both Eliot and Dickinson. I want to get myself a copy of Miller's 'Death of a Salesman' with Dustin Hoffman.
5 comments:
Julie, my sister saw this play on the weekend and told me she enjoyed the experience.
Yeah, mesotoo, Jim. But I went to the matinee ... and I suspect I am not ready for matinees yet. Next year I will return to evening performances.
I would recommend this play highly. It is long, and one must be prepared for this. But the time does not at all drag. There is much anger and laughter with many plates smashed to smithereens.
Naughty, naughty, how did you get away with an SLR in there. I used the little camera and was quite nervous about it, hence the blurred shot.
Suspect I may have made the wrong choices this year, as I chose Long Day's Journey over this one on the basis of the cast. Its my first year seeing STC productions so I guess I need to a get a handle on their style. My others are Uncle Vanya and The Grenade - again on the basis of the cast.
Yeah, my next two are the same as yours. But they are all 'big' plays. I think I need to intersperse with stuff from Belvoir which speak to the hear and now in Australia. Nothing that the STC is showing this year speaks to me directly as an Australian. It might speak to the human condtion but only through an american wasp paradigm (to paraphrase Bob Katter!)
I saw this play a few months ago in San Francisco. Fabulous. That plate smashing scene was one for the books.
Thanks for your comment on my blog; I agree with you.
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