THE HOMECOMING Reviews — Page 2

A Letter to the Powers That Be at Broadwayworld.com:

Please make a clip video of this show. Please.

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Wow! I think he loved it!

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Whoa. That is quite....something, Brantley's review.

But....is it just me, or does his over-the-top rave seem a bit out of sync with what every other review has said?

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Fantabulous,

I do agree with that. I also personally thought Best was by far the standout in this production and is the main reason it works so well, followed closely by McShane (whom like Brantley I thought was mostly terrific, if a little too robust and vigorous for a character who's supposed to be something of a neutered paper tiger at this advanced time of his life). I found Esparza too impish and not nearly menacing or genuinely threatening enough for the role. I mean his line readings and body languauge elicited entirely too much giggling and odd laughter throughout, which undercut the tension that's supposed to be there for the play to work as it ideally should. Lenny should scare audiences, not make them howl with laughter, which happened several times when I saw the play a few nights ago.

Thankfully, the other performances were much more on a par with Pinter's intentions and so overall the production worked quite well.

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Updated On: 12/16/07 at 11:02 PM

Agreed. (To both of you.)

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Pretty much! I mean, good for him, but the review is a little, "hey guys, excuse me while I fall over myself."

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He totally hit the nail on the head in his description of Raul, IMO

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Eric Grode from the NY Sun:

Mr. Esparza employs a wheedling, almost adolescent speaking voice — very similar to one he used to campy effect in "Taboo." In fact, he grabs quick laughs on several occasions, severely limiting the potency of his later scenes. He has, perhaps consciously, decided to counter the conception of Lenny as a feral tough guy, offering instead a penny-ante man-child laboring to equal his father's malevolence. But this approach, while valid on the surface, saps a crucial Act I dialogue between Lenny and Ruth of nearly all its coiled menace.

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John Simon is Positive:

"Harold Pinter's 1965 hit, ``The Homecoming,' has been lovingly revived on Broadway with good direction, a fine cast and convincing production design. Though every prospect pleases, only the play is vile. It is widely considered the Nobel laureate's masterpiece; rather than as a drawback, its making no sense is perceived as a challenge..."

"Daniel Sullivan has directed as well as possible Ian McShane's creepily mercurial Max, James Frain's tantalizingly self-contradictory Teddy and Eva Best's trifle too studiedly paradoxical Ruth. Raul Esparza, remarkably diverse in leading- man roles, adds, as Lenny, frightening if somewhat overloud villainy to his repertoire. Michael McKean's Sam shuttles aptly between self-confidence and befuddlement and Gareth Saxe's Joey can be as dumbly apathetic as stupidly aggressive.

What to conclude? Harold Pinter, staggering back and forth between naturalism and absurdism, never settles down in either. Made homeless by ambiguity, he does his damnedest to drag us into the cold with him. Follow at your own risk."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aGzgEoIJ7J8E&refer=muse

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Man, I miss Audrey's Raul slurp fest from last year.

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HAHAH, the guy is so uncomfortable when he talks bout Ruth's sexuality.

I miss Audrey too.

Obviously it left you with something to talk about if you ARE TALKING ABOUT IT. oy.

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What's weird about that clip? His accent definitely sounds better than it did at the run-through, heh.

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Oh. Well, it is an odd scene. I wasn't being defensive, I just didn't know what you meant.

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