A DELICATE BALANCE Reviews

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 7:45pm

I'm guessing Limelight Mike is unavailable tonight, so post them here, kids!

[Owen22]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 8:50pm

As I feared, they are comparing it to the Elaine Stritch production which was nigh perfect. But this is a wonderful production as well!! I obviously loved that production but I really prefer Glenn Close and John Lithgow to Rosemary Harris and George Grizzard. And all except Martha Plimpton the rest of the cast is almost as good, just not quite. It might be because I'm older (or because Glenn is the best), but I did not view Agnes as the harridan this time. In my mind, she's sorta the hero now and I sorta wanted Claire to shut up (I wanted more and more Stritch in the last production). And that has nothing to do with Lindsay Duncan, who was wonderful, but was working harder than Stritch had to, cause basically Stritch WAS Claire. I really enjoyed Claire Higgins as well.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 9:12pm

Saw the Stritch version so we had no intention of seeing this before the reviews as we doubted we would see a better version.

Unless we got discounted tickets we will take a pass on this one.

[haterobics]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 9:14pm

Does better really matter? Wouldn't a high quality different version still be worthwhile after 18 years?

[jv92]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 9:16pm

Yes, Glenn Close flubbed a few lines. No, she shouldn't be-- especially now. (She's a professional actress. She should be comfortable by now.) But I still liked her performance very, very much particularly in Act III.

I think the reviews I've read thus far are curious. Right, in some ways, but curious.

[Owen22]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 10:05pm

I was there the night before opening, and she did fumble two or three lines. Didn't matter. She was amazing.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 10:23pm

"A review of this production was published prematurely. It will be republished later tonight."

Updated On: 11/20/14 at 10:23 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 10:39pm

Most of us who had a problem with the Close Agnes are not basing our disappointment on her intermittent line issues; it's about her attack and overall interpretation (or perhaps lack thereof). Already, I've found people painting any dismissal of her work here as a critique of her memory or performance flubs. No. My issues are with her tentative, one-note, almost generic approach to the role. She offers almost no surprises. Of course it's a smart performance, as expected, articulate, thoughtful, patrician and elegant; yet devoid of a single startling moment. That's what bothered me: how predictable and almost canned it seems.

Updated On: 11/20/14 at 10:39 PM

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 11:52pm

Why the lack of actual posting of reviews tonight?

I suppose if any revival this season could go without raves, it's this one. But wow, Brantley was pretty harsh.

Totally correct about Martha, though.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 7:13am

I agreed with everything Brantley wrote this time, but this production seems to divide people. The Close Agnes is the fulcrum of the production's problems for me, intelligent, articulate, but devoid of a single startling moment. You can almost hear the line readings practiced and polished. It leaves the production with a kind of canned predictability at its center. She's a big star and good actress, maybe a great one; it's unavoidable that we expect much of her in a play of this stature. Our expectations aren't easily left at the door, and that's in part what I read in Brantley's review. She may also be very fine by January.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 7:13am

Duplicate.

Updated On: 11/21/14 at 07:13 AM

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 8:47am

So could this get any nominations could this get come award season, or is it going to be forgotten completely?

[Owen22]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 10:21am

Reading his comparison of Rosemary Harris and Glenn Close just irritated me!! Now, becuase Stritch was so good, it saved the Rosemary Harris version from feeling like a museum piece. But read what he says when comparing Rosemary to Glenn. It's precisely WHY I enjoyed this production more. Rosemary was this calculating bitch. Very easy delivery upfront, evil inside that she doled out very slowly. Glenn's Agnes was honest. Still a judgmental bitch, but far from an assassin. But it came from her intellectualism. And oddly for me, this time, SHE became the truth teller, not Claire. But I've seen the movie and the revival and both Katherine Hepburn and Rosemary did it the same way. And with Glenn's Agnes, it felt like a new play. I also loved Lithgow. And, for the moment, hate Brantley.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 10:56am

Brantley wrote what lots of people have been saying to me. Wondering if this is worth seeing.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 11:14am

Brantley harsh?

You're ****ting me right? Wink Wink Nudge Nudge

[jv92]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 2:18pm

I really think Brantley needs to be replaced by Isherwood, a much better reviewer. It's time to put the cow out to pasture.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 2:54pm

^ I disagree. 80% of Isherwood's reviews are just plot summaries.