The Homecoming (The SOB Review) - Cort Theatre, New York, NY
**1/2 (out of ****)Oh, the inhumanity.
That it has taken me nearly two weeks to write this review should tell you something.
As
I noted at the top of last week, as I walked away from Broadway's
Cort Theatre after seeing
Harold Pinter's "classic"
The Homecoming for my very first time a week ago Sunday, I felt absolutely dazed leaving the theatre.
I mean, here I had just seen a revival that
The New York Times'
Ben Brantley had raved about ("It really is that good."). Yet I left with this unsettled, agitated pit in the bottom of my stomach, as if a sucker punch had just landed in my lower abdominals. It has refused to relinquish its position, instead metastasizing into my subconscious, consuming it.
Is that the work of great theatre? Perhaps.
But as Pinter is rightly celebrated for his exceptional use of ambiguity, punctuated by his adroit use of pauses, his inherent nihilism says plenty about his jaundiced ennui with the world. There's a discernable contempt for humankind, as if given the opportunity, we'd all succumb to the most debauched instincts.
While some like Brantley see a mirror being held up to what he perceives as our own lurid, debased vanity ("It insists that some shadowy part of you is part of it....Mr. Pinter, you see, knows where you live."), my vantage point is not quite so devoid of hope, and frankly, I resent being told I'm something I'm not. I'm infinitely more optimistic about human instincts and good triumphing over evil. Call it my "rose-colored myopia," but if I really believed that my fellow men (and women) were so intrisically bad, I think I'd slit my wrists.
That this revival cut me to the quick anyway with its dim view of the world has left me unable to think about anything else. That this revival is exceptionally directed (
Daniel Sullivan) and acted with each nuanced pause, gesture and glare conveying volumes more than the spoken word only adds to my lingering consternation.
The title
The Homecoming refers to the return home to England for Teddy (
James Frain), a philosophy professor, and his wife Ruth (
Eve Best). Teddy's been teaching in the United States for years, leaving behind his miserable butcher of a father Max (
Ian McShane), his good-hearted chauffeur of an Uncle Sam (
Michael McKean) and his two brothers -- the viper pimp Lenny (
Raúl Esparza) and the dim pugilist Joey (
Gareth Saxe).
It's clear that this is a toxic household before the first word is uttered. As
Eugene Lee's decrepit set design underscores, care -- let alone love -- has long since left the building. Max, Sam, Lenny and Joey don't enjoy so much a peaceful existence alongside one another as they parry one derisive invective after another, each malevolently hurled with precision.
Why Teddy would even bother to return, even after a protracted period, is one of many mysteries. He seems to have built a solid, good life for himself and Ruth, along with their three children. They're safe from the vile turpitude that's to be found once they walk inside the front door of Teddy's family home. And yet they come home anyway.
Immediately, an uneasy look sweeps across Ruth's face. It's almost as if she knows this house and knows what to expect and knows what she'll ultimately confront. We really know nothing about her past, but there are hints, especially during her first encounter with Lenny, that this supposedly respectable woman may discern the home's seedy undertow from previous personal experience.
Once she's been introduced to the entire clan, the brinksmanship among the players intensifies with Teddy ready for an early retreat. With bags packed, Teddy summons Ruth to depart, but Lenny seduces her, first asking for a little dance and then getting much more.
From that point on, I felt as though I were caught up in a miasma of mysogyny mixed with Ruth's vexing hubris. As unequivocally vile as this was, it was like car accident -- impossible to look away. For that, I credit Eve Best for a remarkably subtle, layered performance. She says more with her eyes -- and legs, for that matter -- than many actors are capable of conveying with words. Pitted against Esparza's slithery snake of a pimp, who creeped me out plain and simple, Best scores bigtime.
But in a play where evil triumphs over evil, and where the only good falls down and dies without any regard, all I have been able to think about is how the human condition has come to this. What people do any of us know who would really do this to each other? What's more, this is entertainment?
Oh, the inhumanity, indeed.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Deconstructing Harry (January 8, 2008)
Did Critics Crown This Year's Homecoming King? (December 17, 2007)
Opening: Pinter's Homecoming Returns To Broadway (December 17, 2007)
Esparza's Homecoming Finds Him In Good Company (July 24, 2007)
Labels: Broadway, Eve Best, Harold Pinter, Ian McShane, Michael McKean, Play, Raul Esparza, Revival, The Homecoming, The SOB Review
Did Critics Crown This Year's Homecoming King?Yesterday, the second Broadway revival of
Harold Pinter's
The Homecoming made a mostly triumphant return at the
Cort Theatre.
Daniel Sullivan helms the 40th anniversary incarnation, which stars
Raúl Esparza,
Michael McKean,
Ian McShane,
Eve Best,
James Frain and
Gareth Saxe. Critics largely praised the production, reserving some of their most favorable accolades for Best; however, they were across the board on Esparza's first non-musical Rialto performance.
Commencing his review simply by stating "First of all, it really is that good,"
The New York Times'
Ben Brantley positively raves: "[T]he first-rate revival that opened Sunday night at the Cort Theater makes electrifyingly clear,
The Homecoming is every bit as big as its reputation....It insists that some shadowy part of you is part of it. It burrows under you skin and festers....And the fine cast assembled for Daniel Sullivan's new production -- including Eve Best and Raúl Esparza in benchmark performances -- grasps the power of holding back in making a fathoms-deep impression."
Proclaiming this a "diamond-edged revival,"
David Rooney of
Variety similarly marvels: "The director's lucid, unblinking work is matched by a riveting ensemble, their vileness inching under the skin in ways as psychologically disturbing as they are theatrically bracing....[E]ven while withholding a full understanding of what drives the characters' actions, the play confronts its audience with the uncomfortable truth that there's a little of their base, animalistic cunning in all of us."
Labeling the revival an "admirable production,"
Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press says the show "...reconfirms its status as a contemporary classic....Eve Best was a sensational Josie Hogan last season in a revival of
Eugene O'Neill's
A Moon for the Misbegotten. As Ruth, she's a different kind of earth mother, more erotically charged, yet distant and forbidding. In this battle of the sexes, she definitely has the upper hand. And gets to display a great pair of legs. James Frain turns in a fine, deceptively understated performance as her acquiescent husband, and Gareth Saxe personifies dumb brute strength as the would-be prize fighter."
Deeming this a "lucid production,"
Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's
Daily News also offers his welcome to this
Homecoming: "There's plenty to chew on about power, sex, morality, misogyny and family, which Pinter, a 2005 Nobel Prize winner, serves up with signature intelligence, mystery and ambiguity. Daniel Sullivan's astute direction captures the distinct rhythms of Pinter's dialogue, as the production casts a strange spell that grips you tight. McKean gives Sam poignancy, while Frain's reserve feels right for the intellectual Teddy. The robust Saxe is well cast as the tongue-tied Joey, an amateur boxer who, unlike his dad, never mastered 'how to defend and to attack.' Best follows her Broadway debut in
A Moon for the Misbegotten with more fine work. In a beat, Ruth's cool detachment turns icy; you sense she is always acutely aware of the physical power she possesses."
Concluding that you "follow (Pinter) at your own risk,"
John Simon of Bloomberg neatly summarizes his thoughts in the first paragraph of his review: "
The Homecoming has been lovingly revived on Broadway with good direction, a fine cast and convincing production design. Though every prospect pleases, only the play is vile. It is widely considered the Nobel laureate's masterpiece; rather than as a drawback, its making no sense is perceived as a challenge."
Calling it a "fascinating and entertaining piece,"
New York Post's
Clive Barnes uses his three-star review to lament: "[T]he play, 40 years on, has not worn as well as I would have expected. Once Pinter was generally regarded as a possible successor to Samuel Beckett in nihilistic existentialism. Now he seems a markedly lesser talent. Yet it's difficult to imagine an all-over better cast or a more persuasive reading; led by McShane's ugly and embittered patriarch, Esparza's smoothly confident Lenny, Frain's shiftily ambivalent Teddy and the wonderful Best, whose smugly conspiratorial smile, caps the play's ending."
Eric Grode of the
New York Sun also offers a primarily solid endorsement: "This shabby all-male North London home may reek of sweat and cigar smoke, but Mr. Sullivan's forceful mounting, led by
Ian McShane and
Eve Best as the two primary combatants, breathes vivifying air into several of the play's mustier corners.Somewhat surprisingly, Mr. Sullivan's reputation as an exacting but empathic actors' director...is burnished, not offset, by Mr. Pinter's deterministic worldview....Ms. Best's mastery of Ruth's icy allure is as complete as her command of romantic anxiety and impulsiveness was in last season's
A Moon for the Misbegotten....In contrast to Mr. McShane's two-packs-a-day croak, Mr. Esparza employs a wheedling, almost adolescent speaking voice — very similar to one he used to campy effect in
Taboo. In fact, he grabs quick laughs on several occasions, severely limiting the potency of his later scenes."
Chalk up yet another solid December opening. This limited run is slated to perform through April 13, 2008.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Opening: Pinter's Homecoming Returns To Broadway (December 17, 2007)
Esparza's Homecoming Finds Him In Good Company (July 24, 2007)
Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Daniel Sullivan, Eve Best, Harold Pinter, Ian McShane, Michael McKean, Play, Raul Esparza, Revival, The Homecoming
Opening: Pinter's Homecoming Returns To BroadwayForty years after
The Homecoming won four major Tony Awards, including for Best Play of 1967,
Harold Pinter's acclaimed play about lust, seduction and deception is set for yet another opening night on the Great White Way.
This is the second Broadway revival -- the first only played a total of 49 performances back in 1991. The limited run is slated to perform through April 13, 2008 at the
Cort Theatre.
Directed by
Daniel Sullivan,
The Homecoming features a starry cast including
Raúl Esparza (
Company)
, Michael McKean (
The Pajama Game),
Ian McShane (last seen on Broadway in 1967's
The Promise) and
Eve Best (
A Moon For the Misbegotten), as well as
James Frain and
Gareth Saxe.
Will critics welcome this work home? Find out tomorrow as I provide my critics' capsule.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Esparza's Homecoming Finds Him In Good Company (July 24, 2007)
Labels: Broadway, Daniel Sullivan, Eve Best, Harold Pinter, Ian McShane, Michael McKean, Opening Night, Play, Raul Esparza, Revival, The Homecoming
Riedel's Tony Predictions
One of the joys of traveling abroad, as I have during the last several days, is trying to catch up on all I've missed.
I just had an opportunity to review
New York Post theatre columnist
Michael Riedel's Tony predictions from Thursday. In addition to noting how most Tony voters cast their ballots without having seen every single show (something I hit at when providing my wannabe votes earlier this week), Riedel offerd predictions that closely matched my final tally of which shows would win (as opposed to shows that I would
prefer to win).
The only category where I have a major disagreement with him on who will win is in the Best Actress in a Play category. In perhaps the most competitive of all acting categories this year, I believe that
Eve Best will live up to her name and score the big honor. I'm not saying this just because I loved the revival, but because I believe in the end, Tony voters will feel compelled to recognize
A Moon For The Misbegotten and its outstanding cast via Best.
Who do you think will win each of the major acting awards Sunday evening? If you haven't already had a chance to vote, I invite you to scroll down the right-hand side of Steve On Broadway to vote in each of the four SOB Polls and then feel free to weigh-in on why you believe your selections will win.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB) still in China.
Click here for Tony Awards tickets, which are still available as of this writing. Labels: Broadway, Eve Best, Michael Riedel, Musical, Play, Tony Awards, Tony Nominations
A Recoup For The MisbegottenSeems like ever since the transfer of the
Old Vic's revival of
A Moon For The Misbegotten was announced, critics and pundits have had their knives out for it. As you'll note,
I adored this revival and think it deserved far better treatment from the media than it's received.
One of the earlier strains of criticism was over whether it would be able to break even. Guess what? It has.
You'll recall that back in January,
Michael Riedel of the New York Post stated:
The acclaimed actor (Kevin Spacey) is demanding such a hefty paycheck, some people involved in the show worry that there won't be anything left for the backers....This time out, Spacey wants his money right off the top. The problem for his backers is that Moon -- which is being produced for $2.5 million -- is scheduled to run only 10 weeks at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. Factor in all the other production costs, and the show has to sell a lot of seats -- many at premium prices of $250 or more -- just to break even, production sources say.
Well, after a mere 52 performances on Broadway,
A Moon For The Misbegotten has recouped all of its $2.4 million investment. It's recouped even after
offering 60 $25 seats to students at every performance. Just last week, the show played to an impressive 88.9% capacity and had an average ticket price of $74.68 -- that placed it third among all plays (only
The Coast Of Utopia and
The Year Of Magical Thinking had higher average tickets).
And the revival
still has another three weeks to go before it closes on June 10. The show may have been largely snubbed by the Tonys save for
Eve Best's very well-deserved nod, but I can confidently say that if you haven't already seen it, do yourself a favor and go.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Plays (May 16, 2007)
A Moon For The Misbegotten (The SOB Review) (May 12, 2007)
Was Moon Eclipsed By Critics? (April 10, 2007)
Broadway Moon Shines On Opening Tonight (April 9, 2007)
A Moon For The Students (April 4, 2007)
Money For The Begotten? (January 10, 2007)
Brooks Atkinson To Get Space(y)d Out With Moon For The Misbegotten (November 22, 2006)
Labels: A Moon For The Misbegotten, Broadway, Eve Best, Kevin Spacey, Michael Riedel, Play, Recoup, Revival, The SOB Review, Tony Nominations
A Moon For The Misbegotten (The SOB Review) - Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York, NY
***1/2 (out of ****)
It may seem like sacrilege for a self-professed theatre fan to confess to never having seen
Eugene O’Neill’s
A Moon For The Misbegotten. But here’s my admission: I finally saw this masterpiece for my first time.
With memories still fresh from the impeccable 2003 Broadway revival of O’Neill’s
Long Day’s Journey Into Night, I was eager to finally consume the next chapter of the Tyrone family’s story, which of course, is based in part on the playwright’s own brother’s life. Having already witnessed the ruinous self-destructive path of mother Mary Tyrone and the beginnings of that propensity in her son Jamie, I understood that
Moon’s continuation of his story would point toward the same bleak end for him.
Since I had never before seen
A Moon For The Misbegotten, I had few preconceived notions of how each character should be portrayed. However, in reading the reviews in advance, I certainly knew that many critics were less than pleased by
Kevin Spacey’s unique reading of an older, but hardly more mature Jim Tyrone. But I vowed that in seeing the show, I would not let those critiques unfairly prejudice my receptivity to Spacey’s interpretation or the production itself.
Ask anyone who’s held off in seeing a show until it’s already well into its run and they’re likely to tell you that it’s either a blessing or a curse.
It may be a blessing because the production has long since found its footing. Or perhaps it’s a blessing since the actors have achieved a higher degree of confidence in their own portrayals, not to mention a greater symbiotic relationship with the rest of the cast. On the other hand, it may be a bit of a curse if the critics weren’t necessarily kind to the production. Or even worse, if the actors are already calling in their performances, essentially making the show anything but vital.
The latter most certainly cannot be said about
Howard Davies’ mesmerizing, profoundly moving, and yes, even entertaining production. I never thought three hours in a theatre could go by so quickly given the tough, dark subject matter.
To say I was completely spellbound by the intensity of the three principal actors would be an understatement.
Colm Meaney,
Eve Best and Spacey are all brilliant.
As the scheming and belligerent Phil Hogan, Meaney swaggers, cajoles and even cowers under his promiscuous daughter Josie’s domination. Best is nothing short of a revelation; the diminutive actress may not quite be the cow O’Neill originally envisioned, but her forceful take on Josie makes her a woman whom men should challenge at their own peril. And yet, there’s such a genuine quality to her Josie that whether she’s squaring off -- with her own father, the neighbor T. Stedman Harder (
Billy Carter in a real display of comic relief) or Jim Tyrone – or falling deeply for Jim’s charms, Best offers the production’s most nuanced performance.
And then there’s Spacey, much derided for what is perceived as a lighthearted, almost comedic portrayal of the alcoholic Jim Tyrone. No matter that in
Long Day’s Journey Into Night, we got a glimpse early on into how Mary Tyrone herself glossed over her demons. Never mind that throughout O’Neill’s writing, the audience is reminded continuously that this washed-up actor is a natural kidder. (What’s that old saying? “Once a kidder, always a kidder”?) And lest I forget, Josie
is supposed to be attracted to this man, isn’t she?
What I found so captivating about Spacey’s ultimately heartbreaking portrayal is that, as the eternal actor and kidder, Jim Tyrone has little choice but to mask over the truth and shame he feels deep in his soul by putting up a front of frivolity. That and the refuge he takes in the bottle essentially provide him the sole remaining means by which he can bear to live with himself.
Jim’s subsequent meltdown in Josie’s arms is rendered all the more poignant and tender because for a fleeting moment, Josie finally has a clear view into the window of his aching soul. She’s able to truly comprehend the extent of her would-be lover’s extraordinary anguish, sense of loss and resulting humility.
Together, Best and Spacey are as symbiotic as any two actors I’ve witnessed, and they provide one of the most astonishing and affecting hours I’ve experienced from live theatre all year. This haunting revival of
A Moon For The Misbegotten is, in a word, spectacular.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: A Moon For The Misbegotten, Broadway, Eugene O'Neill, Eve Best, Kevin Spacey, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Play, Revival, The SOB Review
