Saw this tonight and though it was a totally solid, truly competent, well-crafted production that was decidedly better than the 1996 production. I seem to have been one of the few who didn't think all that highly of that production and so I may well be in the minority in thinking this one distinctly better.
But I guess it doesn't really matter which one is better. I know that some folks here have had big reservations on this production, but any reservations I had were minor. Lithgow perhaps doesn't fully realize his third-act aria, maybe he indicates a tad in the third act, but I thought it was the best stage performance I've seen from him since at least The Changing Room and perhaps ever.
An acting teacher of mine once said that Scofield was miscast in the movie because you shouldn't think in the beginning that Tobias has much depth to his character, and Scofield could not help but suggest depths and more depths. Lithgow suggests a man increasingly aware of his own inadequacies, smart enough and sensitive but really insufficient to any emotional demands put on him.
After the discussions here of the cat monologue, it was interesting to me to see it onstage and how it plays in performance here, which is as a cautionary tale, a warning, to Agnes and Claire: Don't do to each other what I did to the cat.
Glenn Close did make a few small stumbles here and there, but they really were small ones and she never seemed thrown. Even in the worst of her stumbles (in the second-act "If they knew what it was like" speech), you knew she'd get back on track and you might even have thought it was written for Agnes to repeat herself a bit. I thought she pretty much nailed the role. A very smart and committed performance in an extremely difficult role.
Lindsay Duncan really seems like she could be Glenn Close's sister. For the first couple of minutes, I wasn't quite buying her American accent, but then she either got better or I just stopped noticing. Not nearly as funny as Stritch, not nearly as bitter and disturbing as Kate Reid, but funny enough and likable and completely solid, if almost too attractive.
Most important, I thought she fit into the production properly, as a strong supporting performer. The play really seems like Tobias's story, which I think is right.
Martha Plimpton does better with Julia than either Mary Beth Hurt or Lee Remick did. If she doesn't dazzle, she doesn't disappoint. Clearly a tough role since two actresses as good as Remick and Hurt were unable to find a character that worked. Plimpton, staying as low-key as you can probably get away with in the role, does find a workable character.
I would think that Edna is not a very rewarding role for an actress. Clare Higgins, whose American accent I found convincing, gives a very solid performance, certainly more effective and centered than either Betsy Blair or Elizabeth Wilson. I rather wish that I had gone back to see the 1996 production when Rosemary Murphy took over the role. It might be nice to see an Edna who might make you think the woman might have a likable or charming side, and Murphy might have managed that, although maybe it's just not doable.
And Bob Balaban is just right as Harry, which is, again, probably not a very rewarding role for an actor. A funny Mutt-and-Jeff effect when he and Lithgow stand near each other
There's a much better set than in the 1996 production., and the lighting combined with the set and costumes makes for some lovely visual effects, combined with smart staging from Pam McKinnon. I don't know if they've changed any of the costumes over the course of previews, but I had no problems with any of them. It did not seem to me that Glenn Close was overdressed in the first scene. I'm not particularly sensitive to or knowledgeable about fashion so maybe I missed something, but I thought what she wore looked fine.
Despite the "Now" in the playbill, my guess would be that the production is set around 1970.
There have probably been better productions of the play, productions that were more disturbing or went deeper, but I think this is a very good one. It lets you see the play clearly and everyone is more than competent.
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