I caught tonight's (Saturday evening) performance of the show. I suppose there will be mild spoilers here!
- At first it feels like Paul Rudd is playing a character identical to his usual personality — affable, a little goofy, with some awkward humor — but I was surprised to see him/the character go much deeper (although, being honest, I was hoping for a little more). I thought he did a very nice job, and by the play's end, I was almost sold. He gave a fine performance, nothing spectacular, but enjoyable.
- Unfortunately, as good as Rudd may be, Michael Shannon runs circles around him, and it becomes increasingly apparent that Shannon is the real star. His character is utterly heartbreaking, and his performance was even more so. I'm not one to say whether a person will or won't, should or shouldn't be nominated for a Tony, but I think people may be talking about Shannon for the next few months. He's certainly kicked off the season by setting a nice, high bar for acting.
- I thought Kate Arrington did fine — nothing fantastic, and her big moment sort of came and went without much fanfare.
- Ed Asner steals the few scenes he is in, and when he's not on stage, you can't help but wonder when he'll pop up again. He gives a pretty powerful (and really, a very funny) performance here. He slips in and out of an accent, but it's forgivable because he's so gosh darn cute up there in his little shorts and handyman belt.
- I thought the vision behind the rotating set was very well done. The play takes place in two apartments, identical in layout, and the scenes are played out on top of one another. It's quite effective, once you realize what's going on. There are at least two occasions in the show when I thought that the double-set thing was especially effective.
- One of the props flew off stage and landed in the front row. An empty tupperware container, so there was some comical (and audible) bounce to it. That was a fun moment. Even funnier was when the gentleman in the front put the container back on stage and slowly pushed it back towards the actors.
- Michael also seemed to break character for a moment during one of Asner's funniest lines at the end of the play.
- About that whole ending-at-the-beginning thing: I don't know how I felt about that. I think it would have been better not to have done that. There's some confusing recurring theme about re-doing things and going backwards in time, but I'll be honest, I didn't quite understand it. Maybe I missed something, and I'd be happy to learn why I apparently didn't glean this major theme (although, I didn't really think the time manipulation thing had anything to do with the content or themes of the rest of the play).
Stage door: It took about an hour for all four to emerge — first Paul, and then the other 3 at the same time. All four signed for pretty much everyone who shoved a Playbill in their face, and they all took pictures.
Overall, I thought it was a very strong play. Go see it for Shannon and Asner.
Updated On: 9/17/12 at 11:55 PM
