#1
Posted: 2/1/09 at 5:01pm
What. The F*CK. Was that.
The above is my interpretation of how Mary-Louise Parker would deliver the question "What the F*CK was that?" in character as Hedda Tessman in Ian Rickson's reprehensible revival of Ibsen's HEDDA GABLER.
I left after the first act. I've only done that once before in New York: at Roundabout's production of DANGEROUS LIAISONS. But that was for different reasons. I was bored at LIAISONS. I didn't like the play.
Here, I like the play. I think HEDDA GABLER is a great play. And I was never bored during the first act of Rickson's production. Why not? You can never be bored when you're in utter shock. I spent much of the first act with my mouth agape. How could this get on stage? How could Rickson and Parker and Michael Cerveris and Todd Haimes and Christopher Shinn allow something so awesomely awful to be produced?
Starting with Shinn's translation. Faithful to Ibsen? Yes. A colloquial version, great for this generation. In fact, this generation could very much appreciate this version. It's like watching an episode of some show on the CW. But he changes so many lines to bizarre, ineffectual new ones.
Parker deadpans her way through, as per usual. But she's such a Bitch (I would use a different word to describe her, starts with a "C;" Jesse on All That Chat was entirely correct in that respect) that it's impossible to give a rat's ass. And her delivery is flat, as well. She's giving a performance for the cameras.
Cerveris is just miscast, playing Tesman as a flamboyant fop, not as a bookish academic. Peter Stormare is Judge Brack via a stroke victim from Texas; Paul Sparks is Eljert via Texas; Lois Markle is Berte via Texas; Ana Reeder is Thea via a bad performing arts high school.
Helen Carey survives. As per usual.
I had flashes of Alexander Dodge's set in the Nicky Martin/Kate Burton production while looking at Hildegard Bechtler's for this one, only this is bigger. And all the furniture are clumped downstage right (house left). Ann Roth's costumes were nice; Parker looked stunning. I actually thought PJ Harvey's music was the best part.
Where was Rickson to reign everyone in? What directing did he actually do beyond blocking the show? What's with the pronunciation of "Gabler" like it's the sound a turkey makes? What's with the actors delivering lines like it's 2009? Why are the names not Anglo-cized like everything else? Why are a usually reliable group of actors appearing like they're in twenty different productions?
Most importantly, where was somebody to say "No, no; this isn't right?"
Oops, sorry; that's not a good substitution for a sentance that should be "No, no; there's something wrong here." Thought it would fit right in with Shinn's translation.
The above is my interpretation of how Mary-Louise Parker would deliver the question "What the F*CK was that?" in character as Hedda Tessman in Ian Rickson's reprehensible revival of Ibsen's HEDDA GABLER.
I left after the first act. I've only done that once before in New York: at Roundabout's production of DANGEROUS LIAISONS. But that was for different reasons. I was bored at LIAISONS. I didn't like the play.
Here, I like the play. I think HEDDA GABLER is a great play. And I was never bored during the first act of Rickson's production. Why not? You can never be bored when you're in utter shock. I spent much of the first act with my mouth agape. How could this get on stage? How could Rickson and Parker and Michael Cerveris and Todd Haimes and Christopher Shinn allow something so awesomely awful to be produced?
Starting with Shinn's translation. Faithful to Ibsen? Yes. A colloquial version, great for this generation. In fact, this generation could very much appreciate this version. It's like watching an episode of some show on the CW. But he changes so many lines to bizarre, ineffectual new ones.
Parker deadpans her way through, as per usual. But she's such a Bitch (I would use a different word to describe her, starts with a "C;" Jesse on All That Chat was entirely correct in that respect) that it's impossible to give a rat's ass. And her delivery is flat, as well. She's giving a performance for the cameras.
Cerveris is just miscast, playing Tesman as a flamboyant fop, not as a bookish academic. Peter Stormare is Judge Brack via a stroke victim from Texas; Paul Sparks is Eljert via Texas; Lois Markle is Berte via Texas; Ana Reeder is Thea via a bad performing arts high school.
Helen Carey survives. As per usual.
I had flashes of Alexander Dodge's set in the Nicky Martin/Kate Burton production while looking at Hildegard Bechtler's for this one, only this is bigger. And all the furniture are clumped downstage right (house left). Ann Roth's costumes were nice; Parker looked stunning. I actually thought PJ Harvey's music was the best part.
Where was Rickson to reign everyone in? What directing did he actually do beyond blocking the show? What's with the pronunciation of "Gabler" like it's the sound a turkey makes? What's with the actors delivering lines like it's 2009? Why are the names not Anglo-cized like everything else? Why are a usually reliable group of actors appearing like they're in twenty different productions?
Most importantly, where was somebody to say "No, no; this isn't right?"
Oops, sorry; that's not a good substitution for a sentance that should be "No, no; there's something wrong here." Thought it would fit right in with Shinn's translation.
Updated On: 2/1/09 at 05:01 PM
