'Three Tall Women': Stellar Albee revival

‘THREE TALL WOMEN’: (left to right) Glenda Jackson, Alison Pill & Laurie Metcalf. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

THREE TALL WOMEN
Written by Edward Albee
Directed by Joseph Mantello
Through June 24, 2018
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200),www.threetallwomenbroadway.com

By David NouNou

Upon seeing Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women for the second time, having originally seen it in London in 1994 with Maggie Smith, one wonders why this 1991 Pulitzer Prize winning play has never been done on Broadway? The answer is simple it was waiting for Glenda Jackson to retire from British politics and return to the stage, and what a return; she is nothing short of remarkable, giving the performance of the year.

To some degree this is Albee’s most accessible and normalized play. The characters are simply known as A, Glenda Jackson, B, Laurie Metcalf and C, Alison Pill. In the first half of the play, A is a sick, old dying woman who is rich, vain, imperious, bigoted, racist as well as homophobic. She is nursed by a middle-aged savvy B, who knows all her idiosyncrasies and knows when to calm and when to stoke her. C is young and idealistic and has been sent over by A’s attorney to take care of A’s unpaid bills. In the midst of all the idealism and cynicism, A has a stroke and blackout.

Within seconds the second part begins in a mirror image in reverse, with a body facing the back wall and the three tall women emerge in radiant lilac frocks, facing the audience, discussing the deceased. The three women are the same at different stages of their lives: 26 idealistic, 52 bitter and cynical, and 92 content that it is all behind her now and she doesn’t have to deal with it anymore. Each one theorizes which is the best time in life.

Now back to Ms. Jackson. Leaving the stage for 25 years and being part of the British House of Commons has not dimmed her stage presence one iota. My personal favorite Glenda Jackson film is her 1973 Oscar-winning performance in A Touch Of Class. She was forceful, dominant and a force to be reckoned with; she hasn’t lost her touch and damn she is a classy lady through and through. Even when she is talking about her late husband’s genitalia, she peppers it with such frivolity that she manages to bring the house down. Here is an instance when an actor and role were made for each other, a performance for the ages.

Laurie Metcalf, who last year won a Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actress for A Doll’s House, Part II supports Ms. Jackson admirably in Part I, then glows as a red-hot ember in the second half. Her depiction of middle-aged bitterness is sublimely real. She is becoming a Broadway staple and a perennial Tony nominee, and for my money, she should return to Broadway annually.

Alison Pill, who is an accomplished actress in her own right, is in the least admirable part. Her part is the least developed and lacks much dimension. She does have a sincere moment in the second half as she retells a moment of her youth.

Broadway audiences are in for a real treat with Three Tall Women, beautifully directed by Joe Mantello. He has imbued it with so much texture and richness that the play seems timeless. Besides seeing one of Albee’s best and least revived plays, you will be experiencing a ferocious force known as Hurricane Glenda, a powerful tour de force in the best of ways.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 25, 2018
Reviewed at April 24, 2018 press performance.