RIP Harold Pinter (1930 - 2008)
After a long battle with cancer, British playwright and director
Harold Pinter died yesterday.
Nominated four times for the Tony Award and winning for 1967's searing, enigmatic
The Homecoming , Pinter also was named a Nobel Prize Laureate in 2005 for his body of work and his mastery of the pause. Seven of his plays were produced on Broadway, beginning with 1961's
The Caretaker -- a show that's since been revived twice on the Main Stem.
While I was completely repulsed by
The Homecoming, I admit to being shaken to my core by the play when
I finally caught the Great White Way revival earlier this year.
The Homecoming essentially haunted my thoughts and dreams for over two weeks, burrowing deep into my soul. Perhaps that's the mark of an excellent playwright.
My personal favorite Pinter work is the non-linear
Betrayal. In fact,
I thoroughly enjoyed the recent 2007
Steppenwolf revival starring an absolutely brilliant, slow-burning
Tracy Letts (yes,
that Pulitzer Prize-winning Tracy Letts) opposite a pitch-perfect
Amy Morton as married couple Robert and Emma, whose relationship is come undone thanks to her affair with his best friend Jerry (a sharp
Ian Barford).
Will there be renewed interest in resurrecting other Pinter works now that he's gone? Given the spate of recent mountings to reexamine his genius in his native United Kingdom, expect more of the same stateside. Not only will Pinter's works live on, but so will his name, which was forever immortalized in
Stephen Sondheim's lyrics to "Ladies Who Lunch" from 1970's
Company.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Amy Morton, Betrayal, Harold Pinter, Ian Barford, In Memoriam, Play, Steppenwolf, The Homecoming, Tracy Letts
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
Deconstructing HarryAs
noted yesterday, I took in
Harold Pinter's
The Homecoming over the weekend.
While my SOB Review is still forthcoming, I will tell you that I felt absolutely dazed as I left the performance.
When I shared some of my initial thoughts with a friend on the Left Coast, he told me how much he loved the production, calling it "brilliant."
Intrigued, I asked my friend why. Here was his response:
I have a very dark view of humankind so The Homecoming resonates with me. The play imperceptibly shifts from a domestic family drama to showing what evil ordinary beings are capable of. If you don't, like me, believe that people are intrinsically bad, then I can see why this play would disgust you. I don't think I could ever get you to see what I see in this play. Does that make any sense?
Quite a sad indictment on the human race.
Perhaps the
John Lahr New Yorker piece should be required reading for anyone daring to set foot in the
Cort Theatre while
The Homecoming revival is playing.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories: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, Harold Pinter, John Lahr, New Yorker, Play, Revival, The Homecoming
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The LooSo there I was yesterday, watching the very first
McLaughlin Group of 2008 when the panel began discussing Mike Huckabee's victory in Thursday's Iowa caucuses.
An image came on the screen of the Huckster's victory speech where he was framed, not by his family, but by Mr. and Mrs.
Chuck Norris (Gena O'Kelley). The
Chicago Tribune's
Clarence Page remarked that it demonstrated how pop culture was attracted to Huckabee's presidential candidacy.
Really?
Ironically, back in September 2006 when I last revisited
Wicked on Broadway, Norris and his spouse were seated directly across the aisle from me. I remember thinking to myself how interesting it was to see someone like the politically-conservative Norris -- who's most recently been relegated to sharing fitness tips with
Christie Brinkley on
infomercials -- taking in one of pop culture's true theatrical sensations. Even more interesting was that Norris clearly didn't like what he was seeing (I surmised it was due to the show's sly references to the current White House occupant). In fact, at intermission, Norris and O'Kelley walked out on the performance.
Another Sunday morning pundit,
Chris Matthews, turned up in my audience for
Cyrano de Bergerac. At least he appeared to enjoy himself -- I could hear his ... how shall I say this politely ...
distinguished laugh from a mile away. (Another celebrity sighting at that October performance was
Jennifer Garner's former castmate from "
Alias,"
Ron Rifkin).
Speaking of "distinguished" laughs, when I took in a
Steppenwolf opening performance of
The Unmentionables back in July 2006, I remember hearing this rather obnoxious laugh coming from behind me. Don't get me wrong. The play itself was a hoot. But this cackle was almost too much. When I turned around, who did I see but a "
Friends"-less
David Schwimmer.
Which brings me full circle back to yesterday.
One actor who clearly has a friend is
Bob Saget, whom I saw yesterday afternoon at the performance of
The Homecoming -- the former Man in Chair was in tow with
Danny Burstein, one of his co-stars from
The Drowsy Chaperone. I first spotted Saget as we were among the dozen or so men standing in line for the men's loo, waiting for a female to finish her business inside (seems the women's line was just too long for her). To his credit, the former "
Full House" star was quite affable, making a funny quip and kept his fellow liners entertained.
Call me crazy, but for some reason it made me wonder what Chuck Norris would do.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Bob Saget, Broadway, Chris Matthews, Chuck Norris, Cyrano de Bergerac, Danny Burstein, David Schwimmer, Mike Huckabee, Ron Rifkin, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Homecoming, The Unmentionables
SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #5: Raúl EsparzaIntroduction: While others use the end of the year to provide their lists of the top shows of the past year, here at Steve On Broadway (SOB), I wait until the conclusion of the entire Theatrical Season to provide my official tally.
Instead, I'm once again devoting the waning days of the calendar year to celebrate SOB's Singular Sensations -- those magical live performances that have stayed with me throughout the year. During 2007, I have enjoyed, been wowed and ultimately inspired by a dazzling display of excellent performances from some of the theatre world's best actors, singers and dancers of our time.With all due and considerable respect to the talented
David Hyde Pierce (recognized with an "Honorable Mention" among my
SOB Singular Sensations of 2006),
Raúl Esparza’s breathtaking performance of “Being Alive” alone should have been enough for him to win the Tony for making
Company's audiences hyperventilate.
In my
SOB Review last March, I noted:
I was struck by the inventive and symbolic ways (director John Doyle) isolates Bobby, played by a breathtakingly real Raúl Esparza, who sings angelically.
In my "Best of 2007" round-up of the Best Musical Revivals, in which his talents helped the show capture the fourth spot, I said:
In Company, Esparza soars to spine-tingling new musical heights. In the climax when finally taking a seat at the piano, his Bobby is ready to join the human race in a way he's never before experienced. Ultimately, Esparza's finely calibrated performance melted his way into my heart. I can't think of any actor I've seen on the Broadway stage this past year who is more deserving of a Tony Award than he -- this is one performance no serious musical theatre lover can afford to miss.
The first time I ever caught Esparza was in 1999. He was absolutely magnificent portraying Che in a wonderful touring revival of
Evita. And while I have not yet had the opportunity to see the revival of
The Homecoming that feaures Esparza's dramatic debut, I take heart from
Ben Brantley's review that his truly is a "benchmark performance."
Perhaps Raúl Esparza will be a repeat in next year's round-up. In the meantime, here's toasting this superb singing singular sensation.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #6: John Gallagher, Jr. (December 28, 2007)
SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #7: Jennifer Holliday (December 27, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Musicals (May 18, 2007)
Company (The SOB Review) (March 2, 2007)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #1: Patti LuPone (December 30, 2006)
Honorable Mentions: SOB's Singular Sensations Of '06 (December 30, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #2: Cate Blanchett (December 30, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #3: Chita Rivera (December 29, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #4: Barry Humphries (December 28, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #5: Kitty Carlisle Hart (December 28, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #6: Meryl Streep (December 26, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Company, Curtains, David Hyde Pierce, Evita, Musical, Raul Esparza, Revival, SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06, SOB's 7 Singular Sensations of '07, The Homecoming
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
Esparza's Homecoming Finds Him In Good CompanyIt's been sixteen years since
Harold Pinter's
The Homecoming was last staged on the Great White Way. That 1991 production lasted a mere 49 performances. But now, with plenty of star power to propel it forward, a second rival is headed for Broadway.
Not letting any moss grow under his feet,
Raúl Esparza -- whom many were shocked did not win the 2007 Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for his brilliant work in
Company -- will join
Ian McShane and
Michael McKean in Daniel Sullivan's production.
While this will be McShane's first Rialto outing in 40 years (he last appeared in
The Promise with a young
Ian McKellen and
Eileen Atkins), it also marks Esparza's first
non-musical role on Broadway. If he can bring even a fraction of the intensity he brought to his role as Bobby, this show may become unmissable.
When
The Homecoming made its
Broadway debut back in 1967, it earned four Tony Awards, including for Best Play. The show ran for a remarkable 324 performances at the
Music Box Theatre.
Will all the high wattage from the second revival turn it into a similar success? I'm mulling over the possibilities.
The Homecoming will open on December 4 at the
Cort Theatre.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Daniel Sullivan, First Word On New Show, Harold Pinter, Ian McShane, Michael McKean, Play, Raul Esparza, Revival, The Homecoming
