Saw the show today, congratulated one of the actors at the stage door on their extension and he said "Thanks, we actually might be getting another one" and then said "Whoops, I might have just ruined the surprise". So there you go.
Hmm? I haven't seen this, but after reading the paperback of the play, I really have no interest. The subject seemed fascinating, but the actual writing left me cold. Should I?
It's not a great play. Lithgow is giving a pretty good performance, as are Gaines and Colin, but I found it a chore to sit through. I suppose MTC doesn't have anything else lined up until the fall, though, which leaves it open to extend again.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
This is a very good play. I was ambivilent about going but I found the story and the play engrossing. Absolutely go. Its interesting and intelligent.
The subject: a closeted Columnist effecting the Viet Nam War, influincing Presidents to do the wrong thing, and for keeping staunch conservatives in power. Brilliant and unexpected on many levels.
I think this play should have been nominated for a Tony for Best Play.
the two plays that I found to be a collossal bore were Venus in Fur and Peter and the Starcatcher. This play should have taken the place of either of the above.
Note. My friend and I both thought to really appreciate this play, one needs to be a least 40 and remember the Viet Nam War and the Kennedy Assasination.
This is the very reason people should be going to this play. It's called history. The man should not be forgotten! He had such a powerful influence on so many during this time period. I saw it last week - it's not an easy one to sit through - Lithgow's performance is exhilarating and exhausting. The entire cast should be commended!
History does not, in and of itself, always make for good art. Maybe Auburn should have written a biography of Alsop instead.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
It is a biography of Alsop with historical significance. I was 7 at time of the Kennedy Assasination and I found this play very compelling. I was not bored for a second. And as I said, it deserved a Tony Nom more than some of the others that were nominated.
It will appeal to people who remember the Kennedy Assasination and the Viet Nam Era. It will also appeal to people who are interested in gay history and 1950's and 1960's American History.