PLENTY previews

Please share your thoughts on the new production at The Public

I was at the first preview last night. Pacing was a little slow, but I'm sure it'll tighten. The standby line was enormous. Weisz is luminous and is up to the task of carrying the entire show in this monster role.

I saw this last night and sadly have to say I was quite disappointed. The best thing about it is Rachel Weiz. She has a beast of a character to play, and has been having such a year of wonderful performances (The Lobster, The Light Between Oceans are two that I loved). It’s a meaty part and does a nice job with it.

But sadly this play left me cold. I loved Skylight, and I think part of the fault is the production.

It’s a technically ambitious production which I was impressed by, but I think too much time is spent watching the sets take shape. It’s a turntable set with 3 movable walls that spin and do much more than I expected they would. There are neon lights lined in the walls that light up as they move which was interesting. There's a lot of time spent in between scenes watching the set spin around and take shape. Last night was very much a first preview with missed lighting cues and sound queues that occasionally came in and out of the show at the wrong moments. I’m sure lots of this will be tightened as previews move along and actors will fall into their parts more, but I’m not sure I’ll ever really care for this production.

My real issue is that this epic journey that we follow this character on doesn’t quite seem worth it in the end. I never understood her motivation. Was she just genuinely crazy? Her decisions and behavior often never made sense. I like to think I have a good head around theater that I see, but I just couldn’t connect here. The supporting cast was fine though I found Corey Stoll a bit over the top. For me it was worth it to see Rachel Weiz (certainly much better here than in Betrayal), but it was quite a long evening.

DISCLAIMER: The Public Theatre mission statement says they "produce Shakespeare, the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure." From the announcement, this felt like a Broadway production. Rachel Weisz is a star. Plenty debuted at The National Theatre. The American premiere was a transfer of that production at The Public, and then it went to Broadway. It was revived at The Almedia with Cate Blanchett. Meryl made the movie. I don't know if anyone agrees, but it seems strange to me that after Fun Home and Hamilton, The Public would agree to such an obviously commercial production. Please tell me if I'm wrong.

REVIEW: David Hare can be a great writer. I adored Skylight on Broadway (Not so much The Vertical Hour). He is famous in England for writing "State of The Nation Plays" at The National Theatre. That seems fair.

Plenty is such a British play. It takes place over a number of years and is about a woman, Susan, who served valiantly in WW2, but is disenchanted by the political fallout in England and ultimately goes mad. If this sounds like an interesting premise, I agree with you, but the play (or at least this production) is incredibly boring. Maybe if you are British and understand every reference and joke, you'd love it. But I can't think that an audience in 2016 will get such a 1978 ladened play.

I'm sad to say this. I love Rachel Weisz. I didn't care for Betrayal on Broadway, but I thought she did a good job with a very slim part. I was excited to see her take on a starring role, especially after she won an Olivier for Streetcar at the Donmar. But oh no. She just disappeared into the bad production.

There are so many problems with the production. As dave1606 said the set is a distraction, after every scene it took a good two minutes for those bright walls to swing around for us to see... another dull set. The play never built up any momentum because the scene transitions took so long.

The lighting design keeps everything in shadow. Why was that girl naked in that one scene?

I heard a couple complaining behind me that they never knew what year it was. Another person at intermission criticised the costumes because they never revealed the time period. As we walked out of the theatre people complained that they didn't understand where the first scene fit into the narrative.

Sadly, I agree with all of them.

Updated On: 10/8/16 at 12:35 AM

QueenAlice said: "My goodness, The last thing I would ever describe this play as is COMMERCIAL. It is a wordy, very challenging, very British piece of theater. It would be an extremely limited audience for this on Broadway today. The Public Theater always does absolutely first rate productions when it comes to production value and casting. That should not be confused for Broadway intentions-- this is exactly the kind of play a not-for-profit theater should be producing.

As for the play itself, I saw the original with Kate Nelligan and the London revival with Cate Blanchett. Having grown up in Britain, I likely have a greater connection to the story and it's themes, but I agree the play itself is never as satisfying as I want it to be; and can rather leave the audience as exhausted as it central heroine by the end. As I recall, the scene changes are long mostly because the playwright infuses them with patches of radio announcement. At any rate, that's not A pacing issue exclusive to this staging.

it has of course proven to be an excellent showcase for the woman playing Catherine. Nelligan and Blanchet were both superb. Their performances were ultimately the reason to see the productions, as I'm sure Rachel Weisz is going to be the real reason to see this.

That said, I rather wish it had been the Donmar production of STREETCAR that had made an appearance in the states, because that was truly was Weisz in an exquisite performance that would've been more accessible for American audiences.



"

Yes she was a remarkable Blanche DuBois.

The London revival of Plenty with Cate Blanchett was wonderful. She was senseational and the last scene change took my breath away. The late Maria Bjornson pulled off wonder after wonder with that design.

I saw Saturday evening (Oct performance. Audience applause reaction was respectful but muted.

I saw it over the weekend as well, and wish that I had read it first. I found it hard to follow in terms of time period, and given her mental state, the reliability of Susan as the narrator was hard to decipher. Rachel Weisz was wonderful, but it was really a puzzling choice of play and production. Not up to the Public's usual standards, IMO.

Updated On: 10/11/16 at 09:50 AM