Seascape Review Thread

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 6:10pm

By the way, why no logo at the top?

Anyway, Broadway.com is positive:

"Can a lizard cry? That we find ourselves wondering this, let alone forming such a thought in the first place, is a testament to the uncanny artistry of Edward Albee, whose 1975 oddity Seascape has the writer's signature blend of provocation, pretension, and put-on. Director Mark Lamos' splendid new Lincoln Center revival adds another shade that helps this strange, lopsided meditation blow by as smoothly as a sea breeze: playfulness.
_______________________________________________________________

Lamos' extraordinarily sensitive cast brings out all of these levels, and still more. Grizzard, his gut filling out a blue cotton shirt and his voice rasping like a rusty yacht, conveys in Charlie a bone-deep peevishness, which has encased his despair like a barnacle. Flitting and poking at it until it's lanced, as only a loved one is authorized to do, is the bird-like Sternhagen, who brings an unfakeable aplomb to Nancy, even in what she apologetically calls her flare-ups of "petulance."

Weller and Marvel, coached by movement coordinator Rick Sordelet, slither and preen in a more or less convincing anthropomorphic simulation of reptilian watchfulness and hauteur; there's an admirable lack of showoff's fussiness in their performances. Weller works his eyebrows for maximum irony, while Marvel uses her wide, plaintive eyes to accent Sarah's pathos.

And yes, she's the one who makes with the tears. While we're none the wiser by play's end whether lizards actually do cry (crocodiles, maybe), Seascape does manage to suggest, in its persuasively irrational way, the terrible unknowns and crushing losses they might cry about if they could."

http://www.broadway.com/Gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=521744

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 6:11pm

Now here's a thread I can get behind!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 6:34pm

I wondered the same thing...wheres the SEASCAPE logo?

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 6:34pm

I see it.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 6:57pm

Anyone else see the original, with Deborah Kerr? And Langella in the Weller role? I still remember La Kerr's unique grace and elegance, sitting atop the dunes. There's only one Deborah Kerr, and she was a gift to that production, and the play.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 6:58pm

Talkin Broadway is Positive:

"Seascape, like Albee's best works, plays most of its emotional cards strictly close to the vest. In Albee's plays, as in life and the relationships that constitute them, feelings of any worthwhile kind are only elucidated through hard, painful work and aren't freely unlocked. Albee's breakthrough Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, for example, surreptitiously develops its dramatic uppercuts over the course of three hours, saving its most unforgiving blows for its climactic final scenes.

In theory, Seascape should work the same way: Only slowly do you become intimately involved in the story of the longtime married couple Nancy and Charlie, gradually becoming attuned to the sepia-toned sincerity and ruminative romantic underpinnings of their relationship. When two lizards slither up from the sea to investigate our world, you fear for all four and their futures, but you begin to understand that the influence of humanity stretches beyond any given extended family; humankind suddenly becomes a much closer-knit clan.

This all comes through in this new production, which has been directed with supple care by Mark Lamos. But what's also silently, solemnly unavoidable - and what that first glimpse of living green heralds - is the impending specter of mortality that gives the utterances of every character, human and reptile alike, an overwhelming urgency. Our time on Earth is limited, every character says, screams, or cries in his own way - best to make the most of however long we have.

But it's Albee who's most responsible for the warm flesh and pulsing blood that drive this production, which reveals this his clearest, most insightful examination of human bonding, lizards notwithstanding. Virginia Woolf, though covering similar territory, is a more titanic achievement; it revels in its size and weight in the carefree way that only theatrical epics can, unearthing everything and missing nothing, whether laughs, tears, or spiritual upheaval."


http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/Seascape.html

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 7:00pm

Wish I could have seen the original, but I was a kid at the time. I've heard Langella was quite impressive (he got the Tony), which is interesting to me considering I thought Fred Weller in the same role gave the least impressive performance of trhe four in this production.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 7:10pm

The TalkinBroadway review certainly offers lovely tribute to Albee. I find myself very moved. At this point in his life, (from the 90s revival of DELICATE BALANCE, THREE TALL WOMEN, through this) Albee's wisdom and artistry are being celebrated with even more appreciation. One easily thinks of other American treasures who didn't have these late-in-career paeans (Williams, prominent). Revivals often give critics an opportunity to take back their initial praise, or to severely dilute it (last year's uneven NIGHT MOTHER springs to mind), so it's heartening that most revived Albee seems to land.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 8:28pm

Is this by the same "company" that did Virginia Woolf? Like, are they going through his cycle?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 9:58pm

Woolf was a commercial production totally unrelated to this one. This production of Seascape is under the auspices of the not-for-profit Lincoln Center Theatre. LCT also did a brilliant production of A Delicate Balance with George Grizzard, Rosemary Harris, and Elaine Stritch several years ago.


The AP is Very Positive:

"Is evolution, the process of transforming into something better or at least different, worth the effort?

A pertinent topic, especially these days with all the dustups over Darwinism and intelligent design. And it's at the center of Edward Albee's three-decades-old "Seascape," now receiving a perceptive, playful and surprisingly funny revival at Broadway's Booth Theatre.

Directed with the lightest of touches by Mark Lamos, this Lincoln Center Theater production sparkles with unexpected joy at the resilience of human - and not-so-human - nature.

We're in the presence of two very different couples who meet unexpectedly on a lonely, sandy beach created by designer Michael Yeargan. You can smell the salt air in his atmospheric dunes.
_____________________________________________________________

Albee's dialogue is urbane, witty and filled with a knowing sense of how difficult it is to make any intimate relationship work.

Although it did win the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for drama, "Seascape" was not a commercial success during its brief, original Broadway run, despite the star presence of Deborah Kerr in Sternhagen's role. This sterling reexamination should enhance its reputation - and win the play a parade of new admirers."



http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/news/wire/sns-ap-theater-seascape,0,4923766.story?coll=sns-ap-entertainment-headlines

Updated On: 11/22/05 at 09:58 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 10:16pm

New York Times is Mixed-to-Positive:

Yet "Seascape" stands out, even alone, in the Albee canon as a full-length play that finds hope in the shadow of death and tender loving care in the institution of marriage. It is, in a way, the anti-"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (a work, by the way, that notoriously did not win the Pulitzer).

So perhaps this revival will draw theatergoers who stayed away from Anthony Page's superb and all too short-lived production of "Virginia Woolf" earlier this year. "Seascape" does not leave you scratching your head in confusion and consternation the way much of Albee does. On the other hand, it does leave you hungry.
______________________________________________________________

There's just a suggestion of Ma Kettle in Ms. Sternhagen's interpretation that doesn't quite jibe with her character's worldly way with a metaphor and French literary references.

Mr. Weller's macho lizard (a role for which Frank Langella won a Tony), while often funny, is also too cartoonish for credibility. But Ms. Marvel, a busy and a versatile New York actress who seems incapable of giving a miscalculated performance, is quite touching as Leslie's she-creature. And her and Mr. Weller's reciprocally protective body language becomes in itself an artful portrait of a marriage. (Credit should presumably be shared for this by Rick Sordelet, the production's movement coordinator.)

It is Mr. Grizzard, who played Charlie for Mr. Lamos at the Hartford Stage in 2002, who sounds the depths in this production. A Tony winner for his first-rate work in the 1996 revival of "A Delicate Balance," he again poignantly captures the fear that underlies the gruff wryness of Mr. Albee's men. Charlie's sad, marveling reminiscences of boyhood underwater games here become a gorgeous marriage of a playwright's finespun prose and an actor's enriching technique.

Such moments occur often enough, at least in the first act, to give "Seascape" an emotional gravity rarely found on Broadway these days. For the most part, though, this revival is notable for being perfectly likable and, to be honest, forgettable. Even more than the presence of talking lizards, these traits make "Seascape" a novelty within the body of work of a playwright who is rarely either.


http://theater2.nytimes.com/2005/11/22/theater/reviews/22seas.html

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 10:18pm

USA Today gives it Three out of Four Stars:

"Seascape derives its humor and pathos both from the similarities that emerge between the couples and what the humans, particularly Charlie, perceive as a superiority endowed by evolution. Sarah and Leslie's menacing movements are offset by comic lines that invite parallels between their relationship and that of their more seemingly sophisticated counterparts.

Things become more tense as Charlie grows frustrated with the creatures' inability to grasp basic concepts of life as he and Nancy know it. After a confrontation, Sarah and Leslie decide to go back underwater. "You'll have to come back sooner or later," Nancy tells them.

Sternhagen captures Nancy's good-natured pluck, while Grizzard is fine as her warier but still vital spouse. And Weller and Marvel make a droll duo.

For them, perhaps, it's not easy being green eight times a week. But this Seascape is a cinch to enjoy."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/theater/reviews/2005-11-21-seascape-review_x.htm

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 10:20pm

I really want to see this show...

[Liz_Bennet]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 10:39pm

I don't think I'm going to get the chance to see this, so I just want to see a picture of the damn lizard costumes I keep hearing are so great. But there don't seem to be any out there.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 10:43pm

The producers have purposely held back any photos from the press of the lizard costumes, I guess in order to preserve the shock of seeing them live.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 11:05pm

What lizard costumes?

What is this show actually about?

Thanks in advance.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 11:07pm

Click on any of the links for a plot summary.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 11:37pm

I don't usually complain about Brantley, nor have I seen the production of Seascape yet, but his review here seems especially snide and smug.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 11:42pm

The Brantley review seems more like an ego trip on his part than an honest evaluation if the play. He's unaccountably flip, dismissive and a little nasty towards a play and a production that deserves far better than that (as you can see from every other critic). Is his retirement anywhere in sight?

[Calvin]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 11:51pm

Very excited about seeing this this weekend.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/22/05 at 12:00am

It seems to me that Brantley enjoyed the show, but just expected more out of it? Like it has a great cast, great technical aspects, and a great story, but something is missing. Like with most Albeen plays, they're great shows, and so they're expected to be great. I kind of agree in a way. I just learned that this show was opening on Broadway like a week ago, and now its already open

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/22/05 at 12:12am

Yeah, well, Broadway plays are always ignored by the general media. And about 75% of the Broadway audience as well.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/22/05 at 12:14am

very true Smaxie. I guess when you think of Broadway you think of big flashy musicals. Although I've made it a goal to see at least one play when I go to visit.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/22/05 at 12:22am

Unless Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick had played the lizards in Seascape...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/22/05 at 12:37am

The Bergen Record is Positive:

"Like Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," the play is about two married couples and the effects of their interaction. But theater-goers of the '70s anticipating the intense, vivid, lacerating experience of the earlier play would be severely disappointed.

"Seascape" is almost the flip side of "Virginia Woolf," a gentle, contemplative piece about men and women who, despite their differences, are clearly devoted to each other.

It must have seemed very un-Albee-like then. Today, when smartly written plays that blend keenly observed characters with larger ideas are rarely encountered, its virtues are perhaps clearer.

That's not to say that "Seascape" is a transcendent dramatic experience. It's a small play, even a modest one. But in this graceful production, directed by Mark Lamos, it's involving and provocative in the way it asks the audience to consider the nature of life.

The production is fortunate to have two superb veteran actors, who define their characters - an aging, financially comfortable couple deciding their futures - in a funny, heart-tugging, deeply accessible way.
____________________________________________________________


The lizards' situation presumably is meant as an object lesson for Charlie. But the schematic and explicit statements of the nature of progress put into Charlie and Nancy's mouths are a letdown after what we've seen of their nuanced, complexly human relationship.

But even with a less-than-perfect ending, "Seascape" is an intelligent, witty play with a bracing sympathy for the human - and giant-lizard - condition.


http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNjcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY4MTgwNDEmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3