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| My review of THREE TALL WOMEN: Glenda Jackson returns in Edward Albee’s Pulitzer-winning play | |
| Posted by: jesse21 02:26 pm EDT 03/29/18 | |
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| - Life can take some surprising turns. It has been 30 years since Glenda Jackson’s been on Broadway or, for that matter, anywhere in show business since she stopped acting for a new career in politics for most of those three decades. (She resumed acting only two years ago as Lear at the Old Vic.) Now, over at the Golden Theatre where she opens tonight, Ms. Jackson is back at age 81 (or is it 82?) and has the audience eating out of the palm of her hand. Rightfully so. She commands the stage from her first line as the dying nonagenarian in a terrific production of Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, one of the playwright's most popular works for which he received a third Pulitzer Prize after its New York premiere in 1994. There is a stage direction in the script for Ms. Jackson’s character who is named simply A and is a biographical portrait of Albee’s adoptive mother. It reads: “Weep. Full weep. Cry. Laughter. Face crumbles. Weep. Giggle. Weep” to define quickly-changing moods from acerbic lucidity to foggy memory loss. It is breathtaking to watch Ms. Jackson’s skill in negotiating these rapid shifts. Her artistry is so solid, you intensely feel each lapse of lucidity in your gut. Not that A is a nice old lady, mind you. Hardly. She’s a very rich and very bigoted monster. The play opens in A’s old money-appointed boudoir. All three woman are on stage. The 52-year-old B (Laurie Metcalf) is A’s sharp-tongued but compassionate caretaker. And the 26-year-old C (Alison Pill) is an associate from A’s lawyer’s office who needs some papers signed. The conversation is naturalistic without the abstract aspects you usually associate with Mr. Albee’s plays. We hear A’s talk about her life, interlaced with sexist, racist and anti-homosexual outbursts. She speaks about her pursuit of a wealthy man to marry (she did) and her fraught relationship with the son who walked away. There is detailed dialogue in the play on how the cold (and mercenary) A would not sexually satisfy her husband. At the end of Act I, she suffers a stroke. In this version, there is no intermission, just a blackout and then we are in the second act to complete the intense one hour and forty-five minute playing time uninterrupted. In the background of Act II, we now see the back of a mannequin’s head (A, of course) in a bed that is a mirror image of the bed facing us in A’s bedroom. Meanwhile, the prodigal son (a non-speaking role that is uncredited in the Playbill) stands way upstage starring at his mother's ravaged body. Mr. Albee admitted the male haracter is autobiographical, and he labelled this play “my exorcism." By the way, the scenic design by Miriam Buether (A Doll’s House, Part 2) is outstanding in its detailed richness and dramatic impact. And now in the foreground, the second act has all three women front and center. All three are playing A at various stages in her life. B is the the middle-aged version and C is the twentysomething version. There is a key line in the play that people from young age should be made "aware they're dying from the moment they're born." That notion, along with the overall theme on the inevitability of death, permeates the second act. Laurie Metcalf, as gifted an actress as Ms. Jackson, never fails to turn in an outstanding performance. Her B is not as juicy a role as A’s who is at the center of the play, but it is a part that Ms. Metcalf essays beautifully. In the first act, she gets to show off her comedic side with sassy retorts to A’s constant complaining. Then later as the middle-aged A, she beautifully conveys the regrets of the character's decisions made as a young woman. C is the least interesting part but I think the young woman is intended as something of a blank canvas before the results of her choices in life are painted onto it. Alison Pill expertly suggests what A might become in later years. Three Tall Women is another fine achievement from director Joe Mantello who exquisitely paces the lines to give Albee’s often unsettling dialogue just the right amount of breathing space to sink into (and disturb) your consciousness. This production follows a recent definitive staging of Homelife and The Zoo Story at Off Broadway’s Signature Theatre under the title At Home at the Zoo. Eighteen months after Edward Albee’s death, both are worthy tributes to one of the great playwrights in the English language over the past 100 years. Or, to change that thought around, these productions cement opinion that Mr. Albee is indeed a great playwright. ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ - Jesse SIDEBAR: THREE TALL WOMEN opens Thursday, March 29, 2018, at the John Golden Theatre, 252 West 45th Street, New York City. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes. No intermission. No late seating. Limited engagement. Tickets currently on sale through June 24, 2018. Link to website. - |
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| Nice review. | |
| Posted by: vegas 03:26 pm EDT 03/29/18 | |
| In reply to: My review of THREE TALL WOMEN: Glenda Jackson returns in Edward Albee’s Pulitzer-winning play - jesse21 02:26 pm EDT 03/29/18 | |
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| I, too, loved every minute of this. | |
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| re: Nice review. | |
| Posted by: TheArbiter 04:06 pm EDT 03/29/18 | |
| In reply to: Nice review. - vegas 03:26 pm EDT 03/29/18 | |
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| As did I. This is a wonderful production in every way. | |
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| re: Nice review. | |
| Posted by: carolinaguy 04:46 pm EDT 03/29/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Nice review. - TheArbiter 04:06 pm EDT 03/29/18 | |
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| Glad to hear all these positive comments. This is one of my most anticipated shows for my trip next month. | |
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