God Of Carnage (The SOB Revisit) - Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, New York, New York
*** (out of ****)Consider this my visceral tribute to
Yasmina Reza's exceptionally brilliant writing that I must now look back on my
SOB Review of the 2008 London mounting of her
God Of Carnage and revise my overall rating to three and a half stars. Credit the absolute, blissful perfection in the performances from its four stars,
Ralph Fiennes,
Tamsin Greig,
Janet McTeer and
Ken Stott.
By finally taking in the Broadway mounting of
God Of Carnage with a New York-centric translation from
Christopher Hampton, I suffered from the inevitable affliction of comparisons. Yes, the Broadway cast --
Jeff Daniels,
Hope Davis,
James Gandolfini and
Marcia Gay Harden -- is certainly top drawer, but with the sole exception of the magnificent Davis, none of these actors come close to the far superior West End performances that singed themselves into my memory well over a year ago.
Harden may have won the Tony for Best Actress, but she's no McTeer, whose earlier, breathtaking portrayal of Véronique (now Veronica) seemed so much more genuine -- particularly from the start. Daniels is fine, but nothing could be finer than Fiennes' slow steely burn as Alain (now Alan). Gandolfini never quite finds the nuances of Michel (now Michael) quite the way Stott did.
Hope Davis, on the other hand, manages to upstage everyone else, and it's not merely because she literally erupts. It's because she plumbs the depths of Annette's pathos with such natural ease, and yes, grace, that she delivers one of the year's most exciting performances period. Ironically, for the one sole character whose name has not changed in translation, Davis provides a vibrant and exciting new take.
And coming full circle, aside from Davis, the real star of
God Of Carnage is Reza's razorsharp wit and ingeniously constructed story, making this a recommended show nonetheless.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Christopher Hampton, God Of Carnage, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini, Janet McTeer, Jeff Daniels, Ken Stott, Marcia Gay Harden, Play, Ralph Fiennes, Tamsin Greig, Yasmina Reza
What Hath God Wrought?Yesterday, the Broadway incarnation of
God Of Carnage opened to a slew of
pretty decent reviews, including the
one that seems to matter most.
Helmed by
Matthew Warchus , the Great White Way staging of
Yasmina Reza's latest work (with translation from
Christopher Hampton) stars
Jeff Daniels,
Hope Davis,
James Gandolfini and
Marcia Gay Harden.
After having thoroughly enjoyed last year's brilliant London production with
Ralph Fiennes and absolutely mesmerizing
Janet McTeer -- click here for that
SOB Review -- I find this morning's favorable critiques to be very tempting for a revisit to this visceral comedy. Oh, and if you'd like to see McTeer, your opportunity comes later this month as the London-cum-Broadway revival of
Mary Stuart begins previews.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Christopher Hampton, Critics' Capsule, God Of Carnage, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini, Janet McTeer, Jeff Daniels, Marcia Gay Harden, Mary Stuart, Play, Yasmina Reza
Did Seagull Revival Soar With Critics?Last evening, the seventh Broadway revival of
Anton Chekhov's
The Seagull, with fresh translation from the reigning king of adaptations
Christopher Hampton, opened at Broadway's
Walter Kerr Theatre.
The 14-week limited engagement stars
Kristin Scott Thomas and
Peter Sarsgaard in their Broadway debuts, alongside
Mackenzie Crook,
Zoe Kazan and
Carey Mulligan under the direction of
Ian Rickson. Most critics gave high marks to the production, even if a number of them took issue with the performance of Sarsgaard.
Heralding this as a "magnificent production,"
The New York Times'
Ben Brantley rhapsodically hurls superlatives: "The careful cultivation of such transparency, to the point that we feel instinctively tuned into the minds of every individual onstage, helps to make this
Seagull the finest and most fully involving production of Chekhov that I have ever known.... It is, to make honest use of the language of hucksters, a limited, once-in-a-lifetime offer... [T]his
Seagull has only ripened and deepened.... And Ms. Scott Thomas, who was excellent as the aging actress Arkadina in London, here delivers a magnified, intensified performance that more than ever is the keystone to understanding this play."
Nearly equal in his praise is
New York Post's
Clive Barnes, who offers up a rare four out of four star review: "Scott Thomas is an actor who doesn't act. Rather, she moves into a character, breathing the same air as a human reality. It's a style heaven-sent for the plays and people of Anton Chekhov, as she's now demonstrating as Arkadina, the overbloomed actress who sweeps her way through
The Seagull in the wonderfully subtle production that opened last night.... [H]ere it's staged with natural fluency by Ian Rickson, with an elegant new adaptation by Christopher Hampton that sounds as though it were written the day before yesterday."
Labeling
The Seagull "powerful theater," is
Variety's
David Rooney, who is largely effusive "despite one casting choice that doesn't quite measure up": "Rarely is the writer's signature balance of humor, pathos and tragedy so exquisitely rendered or the modulation between them orchestrated so affectingly.... It's the anchoring naturalism brought even to this diva in chronic performance mode that makes Scott Thomas so transfixing.... [W]hile he does slowly reveal the opportunistic worm beneath the self-possessed surface, Sarsgaard appears to be struggling to get a read on his role for much of the play."
Noting how this "serene, soaring
Seagull makes a 113-year-old story feel as fresh as a cool breeze," New York's
Daily News critic
Joe Dziemianowicz offers four out of five stars: "Scott Thomas is sly-eyed, sharp-tongued and sure-footed (a little sprightly scampering proves her vigor) and holds you rapt while just standing motionless. In short, she's heaven in her Broadway debut. Less well-known, but no less phenomenal, is Carey Mulligan, who plays Nina and instantly captures your heart with her teary-eyed, exquisitely emotional portrayal. Mackenzie Crook seems to draw from a deep well of sadness as Konstantin, the experimental playwright hopelessly in love with her.... (Sarsgaard) is too lackadaisical, almost borderline lazy, to set off bright sparks."
Calling the revival "visually stark, emotionally luscious,"
Newsday's
Linda Winer production offers a mostly positive review: "Most of the men are not as effective as the women, and not just because Chekhov wrote such wonderfully complicated women. Peter Sarsgaard ... plays Trigoran ... as puzzlingly effeminate and more than a little dull.
Seagull may be the hardest of Chekhov's late plays to get right.... But Rickson and Scott Thomas find the exquisite balance between being idealistic about the arts and satirizing that idealism."
Concluding that "its uneven casting makes for a frustrating experience,"
USA Today's
Elysa Gardner zeroes in on Sarsgaard in her two-and-a-half-star review: "If you're a fan of Chekhov's writing and Peter Sarsgaard's acting, you face a serious dilemma this fall.... Sadly, though, Sarsgaard doesn't rise to the challenges confronting him any more than his complex and crucial character does. It might be an overstatement to say that his curiously awkward, lackluster performance fatally wounds this
Seagull ... but only a slight one.... That's a shame, because the other legs in Trigorin's romantic triangle could hardly be sturdier. Leading lady Kristin Scott Thomas ... is a witty, poignant Arkadina, revealing a nervous fragility in the fading thespian who lives with and clings to Trigorin. As the doomed ingénue Nina, who suffers even more for her lover's callousness, fellow West End import Carey Mulligan is equally lovely and moving, at once a fresh-faced foil and a worthy rival to the elegant but vulnerable Arkadina."
My own personal view comes closest to that expressed by Gardner. You can review my own abbreviated SOB Review by clicking
here.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Anton Chekov, Broadway, Christopher Hampton, Critics' Capsule, Ian Rickson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Mackenzie Crook, Peter Sarsgaard, Play, Revival, The Seagull, Zoe Kazan
Les Liaisons Dangereuses (The SOB Review) – American Airlines Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, New York, NY
**1/2 (out of ****)As if to underscore the obvious fact that
double entendre is at its deepest etymological roots a very French term, director
Rufus Norris’ dazzling-
looking revival of
Christopher Hampton’s
Les Liaisons Dangereuses rarely goes for the merely
sensuales when downright
risqué can do. How else to explain the flatulence episode?
Mind you, it’s easy to be completely swept away by
Scott Pask’s sumptuous set design, which -- complemented by
Katrina Lindsay’s exquisite 18th Century costumes,
Donald Holder’s sparkling lighting and
Paul Arditti’s haunting sound design -- is mesmerizingly evocative of Parisian prestige worthy of
Marie Antoinette herself. This is one gorgeous feast for the eyes.
So it’s too bad that the chief players in this double-crossing, double-dealing double entendre-packed play somehow get double-parked, somehow forgetting that sophisticated sensuality at its essence is what ultimately begets sexuality. After all, didn't the French practically invent romance?
As much as I adore the versatility (no pun intended) of
Laura Linney’s body of work -- and her frigid take as La Marquise de Merteuil is ice solid to be sure -- in order for her characterization here to be truly believable, she needs to exhibit more of a temptress seeking release, or at least one completely capable of luring would-be suitors into the dangerous web she's weaving.
Sparring with
Ben Daniels’ silly Le Vicomte de Valmont, her once and potentially future lover, strains credulity. Rather than presenting himself as a lethal lothario extraordinaire, Daniels instead comes across as a personification of
Lippy the Lion. I was half expecting this unexpectedly tri-sexual character (who might try anything) to announce at various junctures, "Exit, stage left.”
While the heavy lifting is left to
Les Liaisons Dangereuses' supporting players, they quite fortunately are up to the task.
Celebrated Welsh actress
Siân Phillips commands the stage as Valmont's aunt Madame de Rosemonde.
Jessica Collins provides a heartbreaking turn as La Présidente de Tourvel as she's caught in the crossfire between La Marquises and Valmont.
Kristine Nielsen offers a clear-eyed innocence as Madame de Volanges. And best of all is the invigorating
Mamie Gummer in her memorable comedic Broadway debut; Gummer steals the show in every scene as the young virgin Cécile Volanges, who turns from initial repulsion toward sexual activity to an eager beaver in every sense of the word.
Nevertheless, the preeminent star of this revival is not a performer, but the magnificent, beautiful design elements. In fact, the actors in the final scene where La Marquises' treachery has been discovered are literally overshadowed by Pask’s brilliant use of the production's knotted curtain chords turned into a web that ultimately hangs entangled over her head.
It's one less than debauched double entendre that points to how potentially dangerous and captivating this revival could have been.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:How Safe Did Critics Feel Dangereuses Revival Played It? (May 2, 2008)
Les Liaisons Dangereuses' Latest Broadway Affair Opens (May 1, 2008)
The 1,400 Steps(March 17, 2008)
Labels: Ben Daniels, Broadway, Christopher Hampton, Jessica Collins, Laura Linney, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Mamie Gummer, Play, Revival, Rufus Norris, Scott Pask, Sian Phillips, The SOB Review
God Of Carnage (The SOB Review) - Gielgud Theatre, London, United Kingdom
***1/2 (out of ****)It doesn't take very long during
Yasmina Reza's latest effort
God Of Carnage -- as adapted by frequent Reza translator
Christopher Hampton -- to get to its very exacting, visceral guts.
By the time seemingly mild-mannered French housewife Véronique Vallon (an absolutely brilliant
Janet McTeer) declares, "We're all fundamentally uncouth," all hell has already broken loose. And what a riot it is.
Alain and Annette Reille (
Ralph Fiennes and
Tamsin Greig, respectively) have been summoned to the home of Véronique and her husband Michel (
Ken Stott) after their son has bullied the Vallon's boy. Civility goes out the window almost as quickly as Annette's lunch -- along with every defensive insult -- is hurled in every direction. Alliances quickly realign depending upon the argument
du moment.With
Matthew Warchus' razorsharp, precise direction and finely calibrated and downright funny performances from his superb cast of four, it doesn't really matter that Reza is telling all of us that like the characters in
God Of Carnage, we're all basically rude, too. Set against
Mark Thompson's appropriately stylish blood-red set, it's the delivery of this massacre that makes it an engrossing kill worth watching.
As Alain, Fiennes offers a steely slow burn as the ethically-challenged businessman who can't be bothered with the niceties or apologies he's been asked to submit. Turns out, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but in this case, the junior Reille has branched out and uses sticks as his weapon. Try as she might, not even Annette can mask Alain's insouciance. Although in one of the most rip-roaring, ribald reflexes I've ever seen give way on a stage to date, Greig shocks as her Annette erupts quite literally.
Even as the aggrieved, put-upon Vallons, McTeer and Stott excel at slithering down to the most ignoble base of their beings. But it's McTeer's Véronique who steals the show with a meltdown from the responsible citizen of the world she fancies herself as being into the real human being she truly is.
Yet unlike
Harold Pinter's
The Homecoming, which presents a mostly vile family virtually lacking in any preposessing virtues, Reza's buoyant new work credibly serves up an assortment of readily recognizable, fully-rounded married couples who march to the beat of a drum we've likely thumped ourselves. And it's all done with a decent dose of humor that makes this 100 minute performance riveting entertainment.
Post Script: It looks as though that drum will be beating closer to home as it's been
announced today that Reza's play will see a New York mounting sometime next year.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:London Calling, Celebrity Sightings (April 22, 2008)
The Homecoming (The SOB Review) (January 17, 2008)
Labels: Christopher Hampton, God Of Carnage, Janet McTeer, Ken Stott, London, Mark Thompson, Matthew Warchus, Play, Ralph Fiennes, Tamsin Greig, The SOB Review, Transfer, Yasmina Reza
How Safe Did Critics Feel Dangereuses Revival Played It?Last evening, the first Broadway revival of
Christopher Hampton's
Les Liaisons Dangereuses opened at the
Roundabout Theatre Company's
American Airlines Theatre.
Headlined by
Laura Linney and
Ben Daniels, the play is helmed by British director
Rufus Norris. Other cast members include
Jessica Collins,
Mamie Gummer and
Siân Phillips.
Critical reaction was mixed. All seemed to enjoy Daniels' Rialto debut.
Concluding that "the game remains eminently well worth watching,"
New York Post's
Clive Barnes awards this production three out of four stars: "As revived last night by the Roundabout, Christopher Hampton's play is sensual, oddly naughty and totally, impassively immoral. That sensuality is neatly caught by Rufus Norris' elegantly paced staging and the leads: the couthly chilly Laura Linney, as La Marquise de Merteuil, and a splendiferous Ben Daniels, enjoyably snakelike as the urbane Le Vicomte de Valmont.... [T]he sheer joyous relish he takes in a wickedness he can't stop, even when his happiness and life depend on it, is horrifically convincing. Rather less convincing is Linney's unbroken hauteur as the vengeful, conniving Marquise."
Calling the revival "naughty, provocative fun,"
Elysa Gardner of
USA Today also offers a three star review: "The stars of this revival ... are worthy inheritors. Linney portrays the impervious elegance of a certain type of society woman as ably as (Glenn) Close did. But Linney also transmits an inescapable warmth, making the Marquise's ability to disarm her victims completely convincing, while giving us scrupulously subtle glimpses of her enduring ardor for Valmont. The witty Daniels, in contrast, seems impenetrable, at least until we grasp the full extent of Valmont's feelings for the virtuous Madame de Tourvel, whose honor he intends to destroy for reasons more complicated than he realizes. When forced to confront his love for this married woman, and how he has hurt her, Daniels powerfully evokes his ravaging guilt and regret."
Hailing this as a "sturdy and stylish revival,"
Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's
Daily News gives the production three out of five stars: "Laura Linney steps into the role and delivers a mesmerizing performance as she all but disappears into pre-revolutionary France of the 1780s.... British actor Ben Daniels is bold and lusty ... as the ravenous Valmont.... Director Rufus Norris ... keeps the intricate plot lines flowing, and his smart use of music (servants double as singers) adds texture and commentary."
Noting how "this delicious tournament of sex and power never gets old,"
Variety's
David Rooney says the production "proves resilient -- despite some heavy-handed directorial choices and one crucial piece of miscasting.... Norris initially appears to put a starchy stamp on the material, allowing dead air to punctuate the dialogue. But this is soon revealed to be a choice tailored in particular around Linney's approach to Merteuil.... At first it seems she's not having enough fun with the role's lip-smacking villainy, but her attitude makes sense for a woman who has parlayed her impenetrable detachment and knack for listening into a supreme art.... The big problem in the drama's central triumvirate is the object of that love. Collins is sorely inadequate and unaffecting as Madame de Tourvel.... Grace, piety and vulnerability -- all are lacking in Collins' work here...."
Lauding a "sensational Broadway debut,"
Ben Brantley of
The New York Times is charmed by at least one of the leads: "Mr. Daniels provides both the silliest and most serious rendering I’ve seen of Valmont.... His warm, fluid performance reflects what would appear to be Mr. Norris’s intention: to turn up the temperature in a work of famously icy cynicism. Unfortunately no one else in this revival approaches Mr. Daniels’s level of complexity, including Ms. Linney, a wonderful actress who has been shoehorned into a part out of her natural range and is perceptibly pinched.... Here she is required to wear a mask of hypocrisy, and it doesn’t fit."
Lamenting that the show "eventually proves numbing,"
Eric Grode of
The New York Sun takes aim at the icey chill be saw in the production : "It's as if Ms. Linney worked so hard to squelch her innate warmth, with the British import Mr. Daniels following suit, that the brittle badinage and machinations are all that remain.... Mr. Norris ... emphasizes the endless connivings between this pair to the exclusion of any of the rawer, less epigrammatic emotions that accompany Valmont's ostensible upheaval. These two have become so numbed to the possibility of actual romantic love that their increasingly fraught rendezvous are reduced to mere pique. No matter how alluring Mr. Daniels's cocktail of preening vanity and disingenuous sensitivity becomes, this unwillingness to honor at least the possibility of emotional transcendence robs this
Liaisons of a crucial layer of humanity."
I'll be taking in the production myself over the next few days and will offer my own SOB Review shortly thereafter. This limited run production is scheduled through June 29.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Les Liaisons Dangereuses' Latest Broadway Affair Opens (May 1, 2008)
The 1,400 Steps (March 17, 2008)
Labels: Ben Daniels, Broadway, Christopher Hampton, Critics' Capsule, Laura Linney, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Play, Revival, Roundabout Theatre, Rufus Norris
Les Liaisons Dangereuses' Latest Broadway Affair OpensThis evening, the first Great White Way revival of
Christopher Hampton's
Les Liaisons Dangereuses opens at the
Roundabout Theatre Company's
American Airlines Theatre.
Under
Rufus Norris' guiding hand, this incarnation stars
Laura Linney as La Marquise de Merteuil opposite
Ben Daniels as Le Vicomte de Valmont. This marks Linney's first Rialto turn since 2004's
Sight Unseen for which she received a Tony nomination.
Other notable cast members in
Les Liaisons Dangereuses include
Mamie Gummer (daughter of
Meryl Streep) as Cécile Volanges,
Siân Phillips as Madame de Rosemonde, and
Jessica Collins as La Présidente de Tourvel.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses originally appeared on Broadway's
Music Box Theatre 21 years ago, when the
Howard Davies-helmed production enjoyed a 149 performance run along with 7 Tony nominations, including for Best Play. That incarnation starred Tony nominees
Lindsay Duncan and
Alan Rickman.
Subsequently, the play was turned into the highly acclaimed 1988 film "
Dangerous Liaisons," boasting what would now have to be deemed as nothing less than an all-star cast with
Glenn Close,
John Malkovich,
Michelle Pfeiffer,
Swoosie Kurtz,
Keanu Reeves,
Mildred Natwick and
Uma Thurman. Christopher Hampton earned an Academy Award for his screen adaptation.
So with all the previous success of Hampton's material, will this revival safely glide to critical praise? Find out tomorrow as I provide my critics' capsule.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:The 1,400 Steps (March 17, 2008)
Labels: Ben Daniels, Broadway, Christopher Hampton, Laura Linney, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Opening Night, Play, Revival, Roundabout Theatre, Rufus Norris
