As I feared, they are comparing it to the Elaine Stritch production which was nigh perfect. But this is a wonderful production as well!! I obviously loved that production but I really prefer Glenn Close and John Lithgow to Rosemary Harris and George Grizzard. And all except Martha Plimpton the rest of the cast is almost as good, just not quite. It might be because I'm older (or because Glenn is the best), but I did not view Agnes as the harridan this time. In my mind, she's sorta the hero now and I sorta wanted Claire to shut up (I wanted more and more Stritch in the last production). And that has nothing to do with Lindsay Duncan, who was wonderful, but was working harder than Stritch had to, cause basically Stritch WAS Claire. I really enjoyed Claire Higgins as well.
Yes, Glenn Close flubbed a few lines. No, she shouldn't be-- especially now. (She's a professional actress. She should be comfortable by now.) But I still liked her performance very, very much particularly in Act III.
I think the reviews I've read thus far are curious. Right, in some ways, but curious.
Most of us who had a problem with the Close Agnes are not basing our disappointment on her intermittent line issues; it's about her attack and overall interpretation (or perhaps lack thereof). Already, I've found people painting any dismissal of her work here as a critique of her memory or performance flubs. No. My issues are with her tentative, one-note, almost generic approach to the role. She offers almost no surprises. Of course it's a smart performance, as expected, articulate, thoughtful, patrician and elegant; yet devoid of a single startling moment. That's what bothered me: how predictable and almost canned it seems.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
I agreed with everything Brantley wrote this time, but this production seems to divide people. The Close Agnes is the fulcrum of the production's problems for me, intelligent, articulate, but devoid of a single startling moment. You can almost hear the line readings practiced and polished. It leaves the production with a kind of canned predictability at its center. She's a big star and good actress, maybe a great one; it's unavoidable that we expect much of her in a play of this stature. Our expectations aren't easily left at the door, and that's in part what I read in Brantley's review. She may also be very fine by January.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
Reading his comparison of Rosemary Harris and Glenn Close just irritated me!! Now, becuase Stritch was so good, it saved the Rosemary Harris version from feeling like a museum piece. But read what he says when comparing Rosemary to Glenn. It's precisely WHY I enjoyed this production more. Rosemary was this calculating bitch. Very easy delivery upfront, evil inside that she doled out very slowly. Glenn's Agnes was honest. Still a judgmental bitch, but far from an assassin. But it came from her intellectualism. And oddly for me, this time, SHE became the truth teller, not Claire. But I've seen the movie and the revival and both Katherine Hepburn and Rosemary did it the same way. And with Glenn's Agnes, it felt like a new play. I also loved Lithgow. And, for the moment, hate Brantley.