I've said it before, but this production made me see the play through entirely new eyes. Every moment in the text feels rethought. Of course we all bring experiences and biases to everything we see. That original staging was a long time ago; maybe then I expected other things from Albee, unfairly. But I own a copy of the play, I've read it several times since. I didn't see this story this way before.
The mysterious power in that mid-show coup de theatre cannot be overstated. Something happens very differently now, keeping us in our seats as we confront a startling reveal that, well, as some say, feels like imagery-rich homage to Kubrick's "2001." The play takes time and space and re-examines how they function in storytelling. In refusing to offer a linear arc for "A", the examination of one women takes on some of the power of a museum display, a tableau vivant that animates a woman's existence as we gaze at its presentation. That isn't quite right, admittedly, but is the only way I can describe my experience.
Perhaps that's common, finding a story has new relevance. And is subjective. Yet I can't recall the last time I found a production so fully reminted a play that I was almost indifferent to in the past. |
