‘THE CHERRY ORCHARD’: (Left to right) Kyle Beltran, Tavi Gevinson, Diane Lane & Celia Keenan-Bolger. Photo: Joan Marcus

THE CHERRY ORCHARD
By Anton Chekhov
Adaptation by Stephen Karam
Directed by Simon Godwin
Through December 4, 2016
American Airlines Theatre
227 West 42nd Street
(212) 719-1300, www.roundaboutttheatre.org

By Scott Harrah

Anton Chekhov and his famous director Konstantin Stanislavsky must be rolling over in their graves regarding this misguided, unfocused adaptation of The Cherry Orchard. This revival is so inept that three questions arise immediately. Has it been produced as a vanity vehicle for Oscar nominee Diane Lane, who stars as Madame Lyubov Ranevskaya (she played one of the children back in a 1977 Lincoln Center revival with Meryl Streep and Raul Julia)? Or was it mounted because of a new adaptation by hot young playwright Stephen Karam, on the heels of his Tony Award-winning hit The Humans? Finally, why is Simon Godwin’s direction of the cast so haphazard and scattershot, with performances that are literally all over the place?

There is an ongoing argument in academic and intellectual circles about the true intent of The Cherry Orchard. Most theatergoers consider the four-act drama to be one of the greatest tragedies ever written for the stage. When first produced at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1904, director Konstantin Stanislavsky depicted a dark, lugubrious story of an aristocratic family, deeply in debt and about to lose their beloved estate. Most revivals have been true to the original Russian production, but some contend Chekhov was dissatisfied with the heavy-handed, gloomy tone the director infused into the text and the characters. Stephen Karam must believe—as some academics have pointed out over the years—that Chekhov intended the story to be a comedy because there are many humorous touches here, such as governess Charlotta Ivanovna (Tina Benko) hamming it up in some scenes, munching suggestively on a cucumber and doing card tricks and acting like a clown during a party.

Reinterpreting a classic like this may seem outrageous, but this is hardly the first production of Chekhov’s masterpiece with “comic” aspects. In 2005, an off-Broadway production at the Atlantic Theater (starring Brooke Adams) also played up the text’s more lighthearted moments, with equally dismal results. Whether New York audiences will agree that the story and its characters are funny is highly debatable. One simply cannot deny that the core of the plot itself is more heartbreaking than humorous.

Roundabout Theatre’s revival, directed by Mr. Godwin (a Brit who has directed numerous works at the National Theatre), features a stellar cast of Broadway and Hollywood veterans.

Diane Lane is Madame Lyubov Ranevskaya, the nearly bankrupt aristocrat who travels back to Russia from Paris to deal with the sale of her family’s orchard. Yermaoli Lopakhin (Harold Perrineau.), a onetime serf from the estate who has recently become a successful businessman, offers a simple solution to the problem—sell the orchard and build summer cottages on the land. Madame Ranevskaya and her ineffectual brother Gaev (John Glover) quickly reject the plan.

The Cherry Orchard is known more for its many subplots than one simple storyline. Chekhov created a complicated tapestry of dramatic incidents, existential philosophy and everyday encounters instead of a single narrative thread. The only villain here seems to be the changing socio-economic landscape of tsarist Russia—one that is quickly disassembling all former notions, privileges and traditions of the upper classes.

The cast has some distinguished names indeed, including the great Joel Grey (as the servant Firs), and Broadway notables Celia Keenan-Bolger as Varya (Ranevskaya’s daughter) and Tavi Gevison (recently in The Crucible) as Anya.

Scott Pask creates a fine set, complete with Calder-style mobiles that represent the cherry trees, and costumes by Michael Krass are lavish indeed

Ms. Lane certainly shows off her emotional range an as actress here, but her performance, like so many in the cast, never gels with the others because director Simon Godwin doesn’t rein in any of the actors, and it’s frustrating trying to figure out the myriad acting styles on display here. Mr. Grey’s portrayal of Firs is the only one that comes close to anything moving in this otherwise confusing and forgettable evening. Blame both Stephen Karam for this head-scratching adaptation and Mr. Godwin for his puzzling direction (or lack thereof). This new “spin” on The Cherry Orchard is simply the pits.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 20, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on October 19, 2016

‘THE CHERRY ORCHARD’: (Left to right) Harold Perrineau, Diane Lane & John Glover. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE CHERRY ORCHARD’: Diane Lane. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE CHERRY ORCHARD’: (left to right) Tavi Gevinson, John Glover & Celia Keenan-Bolger. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE CHERRY ORCHARD’: (left to right) John Glover, Diane Lane & Joel Grey. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE CHERRY ORCHARD’: Harold Perrineau & Diane Lane. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE CHERRY ORCHARD’: (left to right) John Glover, Joel Grey, Diane Lane & Chuck Cooper. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE CHERRY ORCHARD’: (Left to right) Harold Perrineau, Diane Lane, John Glover, Joel Grey & Chuck Cooper. Photo: Joan Marcus

The post ‘The Cherry Orchard’: Confusing spin on classic appeared first on StageZine.

‘THE CRUCIBLE’: (Left to right) Ben Whishaw & Tavi Gavinson & cast. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

THE CRUCIBLE
Written by Arthur Miller
Directed by Ivo Van Hove
Through July 17, 2017
Walter Kerr Theatre
219 West 48th Street
(877-250-2929) www.TheCrucibleOnBroadway.com

By Scott Harrah

Whether one understands Belgian director Ivo van Hove’s modern spin on Arthur Miller’s 1953 masterpiece about the 1692 Salem witch trials, complete with a spooky, ambient score by Philip Glass, seems almost irrelevant. Why? The material is so brilliantly written, it literally leaves us spellbound. This is Mr. Miller’s most complex work, and Mr. van Hove overlooks (if not ignores) the allegorical subtext about the early 1950s McCarthy-era Communist “red scare” in America many believe the show parallels. Instead, the focus is on the paranormal and the creep factor, from eerie lighting to a levitating girl, ominous wind, flickering candles, a lone wolf/dog on stage, and scribbled messages on a classroom chalkboard. Granted, this interpretation is unorthodox and infused with the European sensibility Mr. van Hove used in last fall’s revival of another Arthur Miller classic, A View from the Bridge. Mr. van Hove’s touches may seem affected, but this remains a gripping, intense piece of theater, even at nearly three hours long.

In step with the current trend in retooling classics, the cast sports modern clothes, with the young girls dressed in parochial school uniforms, and cast members drinking coffee dispensed from a 21st century thermos. However, it’s easy to look beyond the surface here and instead focus on Mr. Miller’s tense narrative about real-life events in late-17-century Massachusetts, and how false accusations and government corruption, coupled with religious fanaticism, result in a horrifying outcome. Allegations of “witchcraft” in Salem certainly have similarities with the red-baiting of the 1950s, and perhaps with all the finger-pointing and scare tactics modern politicians use to persuade the masses on the campaign trail.

The accusations begin when a group of local girls allegedly frolicked in a nocturnal “Satanic” ritual in the woods with a Caribbean slave, Tituba (Jenny Jules). After being caught by Reverend Samuel Parris (Jason Butler Harner), his daughter Betty (Elizabeth Teeter) falls into what appears to be a coma-like trance.

The “mean girls” of Salem give some of the show’s best performances. Saoirse Ronan (fresh from her Oscar-nominated performance in Brooklyn) is first rate as Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris’s niece and the girls’ ringleader. With her manic mannerisms and ghoulish features, Ms. Ronan is the perfect demonic catalyst for the trumped-up charges. She is the devil incarnate indeed. Equally disturbing is Tavi Gevinson (This is Our Youth) as Mary Warren, the young house servant who eventually tries, unsuccessfully, to prove the girls are lying.

Ciarán Hinds is excellent as Deputy Governor Danforth, the sanctimonious judge who precipitates the ultimate fate of the accused. Fine portrayals are also given by Bill Camp as Reverend John Hale, and Broadway veteran Jim Norton as Giles Corey, husband of one of the accused.

However, there are inconsistencies in the casting of other roles. Ben Whishaw is often passionate as accused farmer John Proctor—a tough role indeed, played in the past by everyone from Daniel Day Lewis to Liam Neeson—but he has little chemistry with wife Elizabeth (played by Oscar nominee and Tony Award winner Sophie Okonedo). Ms. Okonedo, while a great actress, is miscast here.

This revival won’t please Arthur Miller purists. In fact, it might outrage some. Regardless, the most telling aspect of The Crucible is how much the message of what some see as “good” vs. “evil”—and the ways lives can be ruined with slander and lies—holds up today, even in a production as unconventional as this. Be prepared to be bewitched, bothered and (thanks to director Ivo van Hove) possibly bewildered by Arthur Miller’s haunting masterpiece.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 8, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on April 7, 2016

‘THE CRUCIBLE’: Elizabeth Teeter, Saoirse Ronan & Tavi Gavinson. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

‘THE CRUCIBLE’: (left to right) Elizabeth Teeter, Saoirse Ronan, Tavi Gevinson, Ashlei Sharp Chesnut & Erin Wilhelmi. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

‘THE CRUCIBLE’: Ben Whishaw & Tavi Gevinson. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

‘THE CRUCIBLE’: Ben Whishaw, Tavi Gevinson & cast. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

‘THE CRUCIBLE’: Sophie Okonedo & Ben Whishaw. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

‘THE CRUCIBLE’: Saoirse Ronan & Ben Whishaw. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

The post Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’: A bewitching revival appeared first on StageZine.

INSTANT ATTRACTION: Tavi Gevinson & Michael Cera. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

By David NouNou

September is the month when children go back to school and critics go back to review Broadway shows. For most children and critics, this could be an ominous time. However, this time the first day of school (or from a critic’s standpoint, the first show of the new fall 2014 season), This is Our Youth is a cause for rejoicing for two reasons. The first being relishing a good show, and the second seeing fresh newcomers take to the Broadway stage and have actual stage presence and charisma. For me, it’s always a pleasure to see actors/celebrities from other mediums making their Broadway debuts and leaving lasting impressions.

Set in March 1982 in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, we meet the loner/loser Warren Straub (Michael Cera), who has just been thrown out of his father’s house for constantly smoking weed there and just happens to steal $15,000.00 on his way out from his dad’s attaché case. Being midnight and having nowhere else to go, Warren shows up at his best friend and tormentor’s home Dennis Ziegler, (Kieran Culkin). Dennis is an entrepreneur in the art of the deal in procuring and selling drugs to his friends and has made a lucrative life for himself, and Dennis also has his own apartment that his rich family pays for as long as he stays away. The third person is Jessica Goldman (Tavi Gevinson), who Warren likes a lot. Naturally they all have excess baggage, and are not particularly likeable characters if you knew any of them personally, and all have hidden secrets, which get revealed as the show progresses.

This is Our Youth was first done as an Off-Broadway show in 1996. As a matter of fact it is Mr. Lonergan’s first foray on Broadway. Both show and playwright are making their Broadway debuts. Also making his Broadway debut is Michael Cera, known as a movie star for his roles in Juno, Superbad, and This Is the End, plus the TV show “Arrested Development”; Mr. Cera has always managed to supply his own brand of geekyness and awkwardness, but he does it with flare. In This is Our Youth, he takes this awkwardness to new heights that are heartfelt as well as heartbreaking. He is the misfit of the 1980s era and plays it to perfection. Even at a happy moment with a girl, he is still the sad sack because you know something will go wrong.

Having seen Kieran Culkin in After Ashley and The Starry Messenger, I knew he is a deft and talented actor;seeing him in an aggressive role is a refreshing part for him. His Dennis is full of cockiness and has mastered the art of the deal, but in the end he will find a way to screw it up because he hasn’t learned to harness his talents for the long haul, just long enough for the next dream ahead.

Tavi Gevinson is an enjoyable young actress but she still has to find her stage legs. She has the angst and frustration of her character but has to tone her down a bit. She can come across as too shrill at times. Director Anna D. Shapiro has managed to take this small show and give it the proper dimensions to make it work on the big stage. Todd Rosenthal’s tenement building background is a vision of art.

What makes This is Our Youth timeless is that it resonates in every decade Whether it’s the 80s, 90s or even the 2010s, the same loners and losers still exist. The dropouts exist in every decade, the only difference is in the 80s they either lived with a parent or lived alone in their own apartment. The only thing that has changed in the 2010s is that they now live as three roommates to make it more cost effective to share the rent.

BEST FRIENDS: Kieran Culkin & Michael Cera in ‘This Is Our Youth.’ Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published September 14, 2014
Reviewed at press performance September 13, 2014

The post ‘This is Our Youth’ great start to fall season appeared first on StageZine.