Just saw the 1st preview.
So, I guess I should give the disclaiming: I LOVED Noah Haidle’s “Smokefall” from 2016. I just adored that play, and yet, I was the only one. Everyone else seemed to hate it. So…take the following with a grain of salt I guess??
These are the only 2 plays I’ve seen from Haidle, but I feel like he and I are just on the same emotional wavelength. Some people compared “Smokefall” to Thornton Wilder, and I can see those influences here too.
As described, the play is a series of scenes taking place on the protagonist’s birthday over many many decades. There’s a particular focus on her grounding rituals and traditions.
Haidle’s dialogue has a kind of heightened, semi-poetic quality, which is often delightful, and often quietly heartbreaking. Reminds me a bit of Sarah Ruhl in that way.
Still, I didn’t love the play the way I loved Smokefall. Some of the plot felt a little too predictable, which I guess is kind of the point? It’s the extraordinary in the ordinary. But at 100 minutes, you can only take so much ordinary before it just starts to feel like a normal family drama.
But the play comes back around with a big emotional punch in the final act. There was quite a lot of sniffling throughout the house, and let’s just say the top of my mask got a bit damp as well.
Like with Smokefall, I have no idea whether people will actually like this. Some might find it a bit too sentimental, too precious, or that it’s trying too hard to be quirky, or whatever. I get it - there were moments in the play where I felt that way. But overall, I like the stylistic flare, and I love this sort of ode to the passage of time, to the span of a human life. And I like that it wears its heart on its sleeve.
The direction and performances are all solid, including Messing. But I think the play is the star here.
Like I said, the play itself ran almost exactly 1h40, and with the traditional 5 minute late start, it got out at 9:45 on the dot.
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