The Year Of Magical Thinking (The SOB Review) - Booth Theatre, New York, NY
***1/2 (out of ****)
Theatre critics who had read the original novel -- that chronicles how Didion coped with the death of her husband John all while dealing with their daughter Quintana's life-threatening illness -- provided reviews expressing severe disappointment. One of their greatest bones of contention inveighed against the show's opening salvo, "You don't want to think it could happen to you, but it will. That's why I'm here."
On the flip side, critics who confessed to never having read the original source material seemed uniformly in awe of the play.
So considering the ramifications of poring over the novel in advance or not, I made the conscious decision
not to read Didion's work prior to taking in a performance over the past weekend. From that vantage point, I wanted to enjoy the play for what it is. The result: I was absolutely stunned, not only by the breadth of the heartbreaking virtuoso performance by
Vanessa Redgrave, but also by the very exacting and deliberate words Didion herself chose to tell her story to a wider audience.
Coping with the death of a loved one is certainly never easy, but in a beautifully subtle, almost poetic sense, Didion through Redgrave walks herself and her audience through the inevitable phases of denial and acceptance, along with the will to persevere -- at first for the sake of keeping hope alive for the dearly departed, but then to maintain one's own solitary sanity.
I was awestruck by how intoxicating Didion's words were flawlessly delivered by Redgrave, along with the wellspring of heartfelt emotion shown when the acceptance phase finally takes hold, as well as the realization when it does. And although I have not yet read the book -- but I most definitely will now that I've seen the play -- I'm thankful I saw this work on the stage first because it dealt head-on with Quintana's death, something that was not included in Didion's written work.
No small wonder that Didion is so circumspect in deliberately cautioning her newfound audience that this indeed could happen to them. In fact, since Redgrave as Didion so gracefully girds the audience with what is unmistakably a gentle and compassionate embrace, I believe she should be praised for sharing her insights on her tremendous losses. She's certainly earned that right.
The Year Of Magical Thinking is a show that should not be missed.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Thinking: As In "What Were They (Critics)..." (March 30, 2007)
The Night Of Magical Openings (March 29, 2007)
First Night Of Magical Redgrave (March 6, 2007)
Survey Says.... (October 23, 2006)
Vanessa Redgrave to Make Broadway Return as Joan Didion (May 26, 2006)
Labels: Book, Broadway, Joan Didion, Play, The SOB Review, The Year Of Magical Thinking, Vanessa Redgrave
Thinking: As In "What Were They (Critics)..."One of this theatre season's most anticipated plays,
The Year Of Magical Thinking, opened last night at Broadway's
Booth Theatre. Based on
Joan Didion's acclaimed memoir of the passing of her husband while her daughter was dying, the production is directed by
David Hare and stars
Vanessa Redgrave as Didion. Critics were mixed in their reviews.
Praising the show as "unmissable theatre,"
Variety's
David Rooney seems downright awestruck: "Didion has filleted the text into a spare but compelling solo piece. Whether or not it's a play is difficult to judge in David Hare's audaciously austere production, given how inextricably linked the work is to Vanessa Redgrave's riveting interpretation...[T]he sobriety of this incarnation is entirely true to the tone of her memoir. The startling intimacy and affecting altruism of its insights on loss and their rigorous refusal of any of the standard dealing-with-death rhetoric allow the monologue to continue resonating well after Redgrave has taken her bows."
Proclaiming this "a 90-minute, semi-stream-of-consciousness monologue of virtuoso brilliance by a great actress,"
New York Post's
Clive Barnes provides accolades in his three-star review: "Redgrave and Hare have created a starkly honest theatrical miracle out of Didion's text, which I find admirable yet suspect in its all too rational agony....Slowly, with the certainty of theatrical genius, nothing matters, as Redgrave -- assisted by Hare and
Bob Crowley's scenic design, which is simply a series of collapsing curtains patterned like watered silk -- takes both text and audience into a never-never land of acceptance....This is acting at its grandest."
Also offering three out of four stars is Elysa Gardner of USA Today: "The play, directed with rigorous elegance by David Hare, is marked by the same lack of sanctimony and sentimentality. Dignity is the word that comes to mind in describing Redgrave's performance and Didion's script....[T]here are few elements of mystery or, in truth, revelation in their retelling."
Calling it an "arresting yet ultimately frustrating new drama,"
Ben Brantley of
The New York Times divulges that the original source material helped him weather the loss of three individuals close to him. But apparently, the play is a disappointment when compared to the book: "[I]t is in the quiet between the words, as she tastes and digests what she has said, that Ms. Redgrave -- playing a character named Joan Didion -- comes closest to capturing Ms. Didion’s voice and the delicate layering of harsh feelings that made the book such a stunner....I never felt the magnetic pull that I experienced in reading the book. Though the script is by Ms. Didion, with many of its sentences lifted directly from the memoir, I never heard Ms. Didion’s voice when Ms. Redgrave was speaking."
Noting that the piece "still works better on the page than on the stage," the Associated Press'
Michael Kuchwara clearly shares Brantley's disappointment: "David Hare, better known as a playwright than a director, has statically staged
Magical Thinking. Redgrave is anchored to that chair for much of the evening. Behind her are a series of curtains resembling a shoreline -- perhaps the beach at Malibu where Didion, Dunne and their daughter spent some of their happiest times together....Redgrave wisely refuses to resort to impersonation, although she does affect an odd accent that sounds vaguely mid-Atlantic American."
Even less complimentary is
Eric Grode of
The New York Sun: "As counterintuitive as it may seem, the stage incarnation has a sterility that the book lacked, despite the presence of a living, breathing presence to lead us through these memories. Ms. Didion (portrayed by Ms. Redgrave) informs the audience that we are all going to lose our loved ones most likely sooner than we think. 'You don't want to think it could happen to you,' she says. 'That's why I'm here.' This shift in tone is understandable but not necessarily wise....Mr. Hare's obvious directorial contributions are few and far between: a few unnecessary dollops of sound effects and a series of wistful, watercolor-style backdrops from set designer Bob Crowley that subdivide the play into what amounts to chapters. He has also helped whittle Ms. Redgrave's performance to a piercing minimum, drawing upon her regal composure and her ability to rivet audiences with the sparest of movements."
Personally, I have not yet taken the time to read Didion's book. Given the disappointment in the reviews by those who already have -- and Clive Barnes' brave admission that he has not -- I think I'll be waiting to do so until after I've taken in the performance in early May.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:The Night Of Magical Openings (March 29, 2007)
First Night Of Magical Redgrave (March 6, 2007)
Survey Says.... (October 23, 2006)
Vanessa Redgrave to Make Broadway Return as Joan Didion (May 26, 2006)
Labels: Book, Broadway, Critics' Capsule, David Hare, Joan Didion, Play, The Year Of Magical Thinking, Vanessa Redgrave
The Night Of Magical Openings
Whatever you decide to call it, The Year Of Magical Thinking will no doubt provide inspiration for many non-theatregoers to visit the Booth over the next couple of months. I'll let you know tomorrow what the critics thought of their visits over the past few nights.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
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Labels: Broadway, David Hare, Joan Didion, Opening Night, Play, The Year Of Magical Thinking, Vanessa Redgrave
First Night Of Magical Redgrave
It's been nearly four years since one of acting's greatest was last seen treading Broadway's boards. But tonight, preview audiences will finally have their first opportunity to see
Vanessa Redgrave perform as
Joan Didion in the stage incarnation of the author's incredibly personal memoir
The Year Of Magical Thinking.
As for the source material of this new play, it's interesting to note that Didion once harbored a desire to perform on the stage herself.
Her fascinating story on that short-lived quest -- and her disbelief that anyone would want to turn her poignant book on loss into a play -- is included in this past Sunday's
The New York Times.
With
David Hare at the helm, this all adds up to a must-see event for me.
The Year Of Magical Thinking officially opens at the Booth Theatre on March 29. The limited engagement is set to conclude on June 30.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
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Labels: Broadway, David Hare, Joan Didion, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Play, Previews, SOB's Best of 2002-03, The Year Of Magical Thinking, Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave to Make Broadway Return as Joan DidionLooks like Broadway's Booth Theatre will be a very popular destination over the next twelve months. As the current home to the critically-acclaimed, limited engagement of
Faith Healer, the Booth was named earlier this week as the venue for the Broadway revival of Simon Gray's
Butley with Nathan Lane. Now comes word from
The New York Times that another lofty occupant -- Vanessa Redgrave -- will settle in March 29, 2007.
Redgrave is set to perform a one-woman show based on novelist Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking," her lauded autobiographical account of her personal tragedies over the past few years. In her last foray onto the Broadway stage three years ago, Redgrave expertly carried the audience with her on a downward spiral as Mary Tyrone in the celebrated revival of
Long Day's Journey Into Night. That heartbreaking performance won her a Tony.
Direction will be provided by British playwright David Hare (
The Breath Of Life,
The Blue Room and
Stuff Happens).
It seems as though every time I enter the storied
Booth Theatre -- named in 1913 for the preeminent American actor of the 19th Century Edwin Booth, who was also the brother to the infamous John Wilkes Booth -- I can count on seeing captivating live theatre. With the addition of Didion's work next year, that trend will surely continue.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Flashback: Best of 2002-03 (May 24, 2006)
Butley's Back on Broadway at Booth (May 23, 2006)
Faith Healer (The SOB Review) – Booth Theatre, New York, NY (May 10, 2006)
Critics Believe in Faith Healer (May 5, 2006)
Faith Healer Seeks Believers on Broadway Tonight (May 4, 2006)
Broadway Season Nears Finale (April 30, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, First Word On New Show, Joan Didion, Play, The Year Of Magical Thinking, Vanessa Redgrave
