by Dalia Wolfson
When you first come to the Barrow Street Theater, it seems a little shabby. But just wait a while, until the lights go down, and a man with bright, searching eyes enters the room. He is the Stage Manager (a character, not tech person) and he holds a glowing cell phone. You've probably already extinguished yours, but sit quietly and wait for him to talk, not into the phone, but to you. Because once the Stage Manager begins to speak, he will conjure up a whole county within several square feet. Grover's Corners of the early twentieth century will materialize in front of your eyes, filling the theater, with pulsating air.
The Stage Manager directs the audience through the childhood, adolescence, and brief adulthood and marriage of Emily Webb and George Gibbs. Their relationship is sweet, like a sort of simple sugar, with a proposal over cherry soda. Eventually, that sugar of life will heat up, turn to caramel, and finally to carbon ashes.The final act, in particular, brings an added dimension to the story (including a stunning surprise), making the audience reconsider life and the monotony of daily routines. Playwright Thorton Wilder reminds us that, too often, we don't pay attention to “clocks ticking...and Mama's sunflowers. And food and coffee. And new-ironed dresses and hot baths...and sleeping and waking up.” The audience is forced to realize that we have an obligation to truly appreciate the beauty of this water, that bird and the sound of heliotrope blossoms in the springtime.
We emerge from the theatre with a new breath. Sigh softly for the comfortable, unconscious world of Grover's Corners, summoned and snapped shut by the Stage Manager's careful words. Director David Cromer has created a masterpiece out of Wilder's script, molding the characters, settings and speech into a little microcosm that provides a patch of warmth on a cold autumn evening.So when it is time to leave this town and enter the next one, our planet, make sure you're not just acting. For Pete's sake, live, breathe and be Wilder. Now more than ever, the earth needs an encore.
HOW TO SEE THE SHOW: $20 student rush. Barrow Street Theatre, 27 Barrow St.
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4 comments:
Wow just the review alone makes it sound really profound. To take in each moment and realize it won't last forever and the complexity of the passage of time makes me want to see it.
GREAT REVIEW! I think you capture my experience with this production. There have been rumors that this show might transfer to Broadway. Do you think it would be the same experience in a large Broadway house?
thanks for the positive comments (author speaking here :)!
jjay- it's definitely worth seeing. i would recommend reading it first- the play is both a work of literature and a breathtaking spectacle, but to really see the beauty of paper-n-ink words manifesting themselves as flesh&blood characters, getting both sides of the story (playwright and director) is really valuable.
ethan- idk, personally i think that if it becomes a major production, the play will lose the personal, intimate element that it has off-broadway, where the theater is cramped, the curtains are moth-eaten, the plastic seats are not too comfortable, but the atmosphere is genuine and they don't worry too much about glamour or hype because the audience is interested and the presentation is incredible. i'm afraid the Bdwy factor would add props, lights and glitter where none are needed. it seems to me as if the show itself belongs in a tiny theater with a dedicated crew and a stage that's a few inches from the first row and a few words away from breaking the fourth wall. ultimately, though, if the cast remains and the verity & warmth of the small-town-Grovers'-Corners production is preserved, then i think the show could really benefit from additional press and appreciation.
Great review, I was already interested in seeing this but you've heightened my senses and now it's a must. =]
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