The Seafarer (The SOB Review) - Downstairs Theatre, Steppenwolf, Chicago, Illinois
*** (out of ****)When I saw
Conor McPherson's chilling play
The Seafarer on Broadway earlier this year,
I deadpanned that it's so damned good, it's practically enough to put the fear of God in you. Now, that fear is being instilled via regional productions throughout the United States, including in Chicago by
Steppenwolf.
Even if
Randall Arney's direction can't match McPherson's own taut vision, or
John Mahoney's blind drunkard Richard Harkin doesn't come anywhere near the breathtaking performance offered by
Jim Norton (who earned a very well-deserved Tony for his incredible work), this is still one helluva good yarn.
Time appropriate, not only for the holidays, but also for these troubled economic times,
The Seafarer remains one of the best new tales of redemption produced this year, and it's delivered here with gusto by
Francis Guinan as Richard's brother Sharky,
Alan Wilder as Ivan,
Randall Newsome as Nicky, and
Tom Irwin as Mr. Lockhart. In fact, the brilliant Wilder somehow captures the same comedic verve as
Conleth Hill, even without the former having seen the latter's Tony-nominated performance.
If there is a performance that manages to exceed the one I saw on Broadway, it was Francis Guinan's extraordinarily touching take as Sharky. Guinan once again imbues yet another of his wide-ranging characters with limitless shadings and nuance, in this case of a man who's not only been humiliated, but who's seeking redemption for his troubled soul. Guinan's excellent portrayal lifts the entire production.
While Steppenwolf's mounting can't beat the hand dealt on Broadway, this solid production deserves a full house nonetheless.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Alan Wilder, Chicago, Conleth Hill, Conor McPherson, Francis Guinan, John Mahoney, Randall Newsome, Steppenwolf, The Seafarer, The SOB Review, Tom Irwin
Where Irish Eyes Are Smilin'... In The TheatreSince today's the day when everyone and everything is a wee bit Irish, it's time to take a stroll down the Great
Green Way.
Even though Monday's are the day when most of Broadway is dark -- and certainly all eyes, Irish and other, will instead be focused on New York's new
Governor David Paterson -- perhaps it's just as well. Despite the abundance of Irish playwrights hitting Manhattan in recent years, it's a bit surprising that only one of them is currently represented among the Main Stem theatres:
Conor McPherson via his superb
The Seafarer., playing at the
Booth Theatre through March 30.
Here's
what I had to say in January about the performance:
In his mesmerizing new and often funny morality play set on Christmas Eve -- in a hellhole of a home (courtesy of Rae Smith's shambles of a set design) in Baldoyle, a tiny town north of Dublin -- McPherson proves he's all aces. Both writing and directing this cautionary tale, he magnificently weaves a harrowing, on the edge of your seat nailbiter that's as much about giving the devil his due as it is about the potential for redemption for two card-playing good-for-nearly-nothing drunks for brothers.
If tomorrow comes and you're still in the mood to get your Éire on, consider taking in this terrific show. After all, the Irish are known for keeping the party going and this one is hot.
Happy St. Patrick's Day.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Seafarer Set To Sail Out Of Broadway Berth (January 30, 2008)
The Seafarer (The SOB Review) (January 28, 2008)
After Seeing, Faring With Critics (December 7, 2007)
Seafarer Opens Sail On Great White Way Tonight (December 6, 2007)
All Of Great White Way Gleams Tonight (November 29, 2007)
Add August To The List? (November 14, 2007)
Strike Fallout, Part Two? Opening Nights In Question (November 12, 2007)
McPherson's Seafarer To Navigate Broadway In Fall (June 14, 2007)
Sunday At The Grosvenor House With Laurence (February 19, 2007)
Laurence Olivier Award Nominations Announced (January 18, 2007)
Labels: Broadway, Conor McPherson, Play, Special Messages, St. Patrick's Day, The Seafarer
The Seafarer (The SOB Review) - Booth Theatre, New York, NY***1/2 (out of ****)Conor McPherson's chilling new play
The Seafarer is so damned good, it's practically enough to put the fear of God in you.
And it's certainly enough to make you forever stay on the wagon, lest you ever drink yourself into oblivion and fall from grace for eternity.
In his mesmerizing new and often funny morality play set on Christmas Eve -- in a hellhole of a home (courtesy of
Rae Smith's shambles of a set design) in Baldoyle, a tiny town north of Dublin -- McPherson proves he's all aces. Both writing and directing this cautionary tale, he magnificently weaves a harrowing, on the edge of your seat nailbiter that's as much about giving the devil his due as it is about the potential for redemption for two card-playing good-for-nearly-nothing drunks for brothers.
The younger sibling Sharky (a somber
David Morse in a wonderfully measured performance) is clearly trying to overcome his prolonged battle with the bottle. With his life littered with broken dreams, it's no wonder his wife has left him for his more youthful mate Nicky (a subtle charmer
Sean Mahon). Tending to his elder sibling Richard (a breathtaking
Jim Norton), who appears to have literally drunk himself blind, Sharky is now making a conscious choice for sobriety this holiday.
It certainly can't help that Richard's obsessed with drinking his way through Christmas, or that Sharky's friends Ivan (an utterly unrecognizable
Conleth Hill at the top of his game) and Nicky show up for a long night of cards and hard drinking. But the hand Sharky had not expected to be dealt is manifested in a mysteriously dapper Mr. Lockhart (a devilishly delightful
Ciarán Hinds) accompanying Nicky.
When Mr. Lockhart plays his hand privately with Sharky, he reveals that the two met once before -- exactly 25 years earlier that very evening. Turns out Sharky had been so incoherently inebriated that he couldn't recall the grievous sins he committed way back then. Mr. Lockhart had essentially served as his angel of mercy, albeit a dark one, providing Sharky with salvation at a steep price. Now, Mr. Lockhart is back, as promised, to collect what Sharky owes him.
Mr. Lockhart allows that all can be settled through a high stakes game of poker, giving a brilliant new twist to a deal with the devil.
What makes this play all the more gripping are the ingenious touches from the haunting lighting and sound designs offered by
Neil Austin and
Matthew Smethurst Evans, respectively. Another nice touch that can easily be missed if you're not looking for it is Rae Smith's costume selection for Mr. Lockhart. If there's any doubt who he really is, just check out the inside lining of his suit jacket.
I strongly recommend
The Seafarer. It's one helluva play.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:After Seeing, Faring With Critics (December 7, 2007)
Seafarer Opens Sail On Great White Way Tonight (December 6, 2007)
All Of Great White Way Gleams Tonight (November 29, 2007)
Add August To The List? (November 14, 2007)
Strike Fallout, Part Two? Opening Nights In Question (November 12, 2007)
McPherson's Seafarer To Navigate Broadway In Fall (June 14, 2007)
Sunday At The Grosvenor House With Laurence (February 19, 2007)
Laurence Olivier Award Nominations Announced (January 18, 2007)
Labels: Broadway, Ciaran Hinds, Conleth Hill, Conor McPherson, David Morse, Jim Norton, Play, Sean Mahon, The Seafarer, The SOB Review
After Seeing, Faring With CriticsLast evening,
Conor McPherson's third Broadway play
The Seafarer opened at the
Booth Theatre. After receiving critical acclaim across the pond, as well as Olivier Award recognition for actor
Jim Norton, how did the production fare after critics saw it? Overall, pretty well.
Praising the cast's "gorgeous, vitally intelligent performances,"
Ben Brantley of
The New York Times offers raves: "Directed by Mr. McPherson, one of the finest ensembles to grace a Broadway stage in years uncovers the soul-defining clarity within the drunkard’s haze....[I]t tingles with its author’s acute and authentic sense of what is knowable and unknowable in life....You don’t have to believe in it to be moved by it."
Calling
The Seafarer "fitfully profound,"
Eric Grode of
The New York Sun is mostly positive: "Mr. McPherson...settles in as a director whenever he allows himself a chance to hand off a few pages of dialogue to one of his five talented performers....The interactions among the five actors, however, are considerably less fluid and sometimes even selfish. Mr. McPherson sees to it that each actor gets his laughs and/or shudders, but often at the expense of cohesion. Mr. Mahon's unctuous chiseler is the personification of knockoff cologne, while Mr. Norton (who won the Olivier Award during the play's initial London run) stirs up an enjoyable ruckus."
Lauding it for being "a remarkably humane play,"
Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press also cites what he sees as an excellent cast: "The magnetic
(Ciarán) Hinds portrays this dapper intruder with an urbane, if sinister charm, carefully concealing his real motives for showing up. Those motives push the play to its surprise, if slightly contrived, ending. The play takes its time setting up that surprise. Until then, McPherson allows us to revel in an all-male world of alcohol-fueled friendships, relationships that are equal parts bravado and insecurity."
"A moody new work," is how
Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's
Daily News describes the play in his mostly positive review: "McPherson's modern fable is laced with liquor and men battling personal demons. The script shows deep understanding of those who desperately long for connection and need redemption....
Seafarer has its faults. The first half is slow and mostly exposition. McPherson, who also directs, uses a contrived device, twice, so Sharky and Lockhart can talk one-on-one. But the superlative acting balances things out. Together, the five actors form a winning hand."
Labeling it an "imperfect but beguiling new work,"
Variety's
David Rooney offers a mostly upbeat assessment: "What's perhaps less expected is the expertise McPherson shows in the physical production, smoothly negotiating
Rae Smith's split-level set -- so grimy and dank with age and neglect, it's almost pungent -- to keep the single-setting play lively. He also choreographs seemingly endless variations on inebriation from the actors, whose agile work flirts frequently with slapstick while remaining rooted in realistic behavior....[T]here's much to savor here in the vividly alive character details and fully inhabited performances....Best of all is Norton."
Concluding that "the play never lives up to the expectation of its premise,"
New York Post's
Clive Barnes offers just two and a half stars: "The writing is standard issue Irish-playwright whiskey-sodden banter -- very good of its quick interweaving, miasmic kind - and the characters are odd enough to be diverting company for a couple of hours....McPherson's staging goes at a nicely galloping pace, and the acting throughout is excellent....[T]he ever-amazing Conleth Hill...is as amazing as ever."
Will these reviews help
The Seafarer fare well at the box office? Perhaps, but if you act now, you can get seats for as little as $26.50 by clicking
here.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Seafarer Opens Sail On Great White Way Tonight (December 6, 2007)
All Of Great White Way Gleams Tonight (November 29, 2007)
Add August To The List? (November 14, 2007)
Strike Fallout, Part Two? Opening Nights In Question (November 12, 2007)
McPherson's Seafarer To Navigate Broadway In Fall (June 14, 2007)
Sunday At The Grosvenor House With Laurence (February 19, 2007)
Laurence Olivier Award Nominations Announced (January 18, 2007)
Labels: Broadway, Conleth Heath, Conor McPherson, Critics' Capsule, Jim Norton, Play, The Seafarer, Transfer
Seafarer Opens Sail On Great White Way TonightThis evening, the fourth Broadway opening of the week takes place on the same small stretch of 45th Street as two of the three others.
Written
and directed by noted Irish playwright
Conor McPherson,
The Seafarer -- like those other two shows on its block -- was forced to postpone its original opening due to the recent Broadway stagehands strike. The
Booth Theatre was one of the nearly thirty venues shuttered by the labor action.
The Seafarer is described as:
...a chilling new play about the sea, Ireland, and the power of myth. It's Christmas Eve and Sharky (David Morse) has returned to Dublin to look after his irascible, aging brother (Jim Norton) who's recently gone blind. Old drinking buddies Ivan (Conleth Hill) and Nicky (Sean Mahon) are holed up at the house too, hoping to play some cards. But with the arrival of a stranger from the distant past, the stakes are raised ever higher. In fact, Sharky may be playing for his very soul.
Hill and Norton reprise the roles they created on the London stage last year.
The Seafarer enjoyed its world premiere a year ago last September at the National’s Cottesloe Theatre where it ran through January of this year. Norton won the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance In A Supporting Role, while the show itself was nominated for Best New Play.
We'll
see tomorrow just how well the show
fares among critics this side of the ocean, when I'll provide a critics' capsule.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:All Of Great White Way Gleams Tonight (November 29, 2007)
Add August To The List? (November 14, 2007)
Strike Fallout, Part Two? Opening Nights In Question (November 12, 2007)
McPherson's Seafarer To Navigate Broadway In Fall (June 14, 2007)
Sunday At The Grosvenor House With Laurence (February 19, 2007)
Laurence Olivier Award Nominations Announced (January 18, 2007)
Labels: Broadway, Conleth Heath, Conor McPherson, Jim Norton, Opening Night, Play, The Seafarer, Transfer
McPherson's Seafarer To Navigate Broadway In FallYet another new import from London will make its way to Broadway.
Conor McPherson's
The Seafarer will begin previews October 17, while opening night is set for November 15; the exact theatre is yet to be announced.
Originally staged last December by the
National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre, this will mark the third time a McPherson work has reached the Great White Way. His last to reach Broadway was
Shining City, which was Tony nominated last year for Best Play.
Set in Dublin, the play is described by the National Theatre as being a "powerful, funny, unsettling tale." The National Theatre provides the following synopsis:
Drink yourself up on to the next shelf in the basement. Drink to where possibility feels infinite and your immortality feels strong.
It's Christmas Eve and Sharky has returned to Dublin to look after his irascible, ageing brother who's recently gone blind. Old drinking buddies Ivan and Nicky are holed up at the house too, hoping to play some cards. But with the arrival of a stranger from the distant past, the stakes are raised ever higher. In fact, Sharky may be playing for his very soul.
The cast is yet to be announced, although there is speculation that Olivier Award-winning actor
Jim Norton may recreate his role as Richard Harkin since the role has already been cast. Norton's only other Broadway appearance was in the staging of McPherson's
The Weir back in 1999.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Shining City Only Shines in Some Critics' Eyes (May 10, 2006)
Shining City Opens on Great White Way Tonight (May 9, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Conor McPherson, First Word On New Show, Jim Norton, London, Play, Shining City, The Seafarer, The Weir
