Jordan Catalano said: "I didn’t see “The Father”, so I had nothing to compare this to but it left me feeling gutted. I thought it was absolutely devastating in the best way."
Nobody has talked about this is a long while and I finally caught up with it tonight.
I did see The Father and The Mother and now this.
The Father was devastating. Watching Frank Langella on the floor calling for his mother will stay with me forever, as my mother was in the throes of Parkinson's and the dementia that comes with it and asking for her mother (while my Dad was slowly dying of a different illness).
I liked The Mother, but, it's an entirely different play that requires we keep an emotional distance and succeeds in a different way.
The Height of the Storm is another animal entirely.
Like Jordan, I was wrecked. In fact, I texted someone on the way out. My first text was "wow" and my second was "I'm wrecked." I haven't wanted to burst into tears so much in a very long time and I'm not a cryer. All the way home, I felt like I could lose it, at any moment. The final scene is so gut-wrenching, like the final Langella scene, it will stay with me for a long time.
This is not an easy play and the doofus next to me who had to read the news to his husband before the play started, whispered to said husband after 30 minutes, "do you know what's going on?" It might have helped if he didn't fall asleep for most of those 30 minutes.
The play is not linear and sometimes it's a bit jarring to determine what's happening and when. I totally disagree that this is the same play as The Father.
My reaction to this play, however, might be clouded by the fact that both my parents died last year within a few months of each other and after 54 years, Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins are playing their last days on stage. If you swap the genders, this is their story.
Maybe one's reaction to this play is how close it hits home. For me, watching my Mom's life drag on for years and slowly fade away, where one minute you're talking about the news and the next, I'm a giraffe, is life altering. All of that flooded back.
I must make mention of the remainder of the cast. Pryce and Atkins are extraordinary, but the supporting cast plays this impeccably, as well.
It's a very fast 80 minutes, but I'm sure this will stay with me for a good long time.
Catch this, if you can, before it closes.
( I should've listen to my gut. Maybe I'll still make it this week.
