Rattlestick's A Summer Day

[dave1606]

Posted: 10/12/12 at 10:20am

Went to this to see Karen Allen (Of Indiana Jones Fame), and hoped that it might be good as Rattlestick often does quality work. This was not the case last night.

My biggest issue was the play. From what I understand Jon Fosse is a somewhat well respected playright. Perhaps something got lost in translation, but this was truly awful. The dialogue had about as great of a vocabulary as Twilight. I understand most of this was intentional. Characters keep repeating things over and over again. (Our nice white house was thing Karen Allen said about 30 times). This repetition made everything VERY mundane, and not the least bit interesting.

The basic plot involves Karen Allen reflecting on the day her then boyfriend disappeared. She watches her younger self and tells us every detail of the day.

The problem about this is that none of it results in anything surprising or interesting. We know exactly where this is headed and there are no layers to the storytelling.

However, an even bigger fault are the actors in question. Karen Allen does what she can with the material, but has little to do than to stare out at the audience. The rest of the actors are varying qualities of bad from a friend's boyfriend who seemed to be trying out accents for his character and then abandoning them quickly to the old friend who decided to saunter up and down the aisles and across the stage merely cause she felt like it.

The set design was interesting, but didn't really add anything to the play.


Overall by the time we reached the final scene the audience was left scratching their heads. Has anyone else seen or read anything of Jon Fosse's? Is this how most of his works go?






Updated On: 10/12/12 at 10:20 AM

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 10/12/12 at 10:50am

I saw this too and it ranks up there as one of the most boring evenings I've spent at the theater. What little that did happen was telegraphed to the audience within the first five minutes, and after that it test of will to get to the end.

Things would have been ever so slightly redeemed if there was a twist at the end, or some plot point that took us by surprise, but it was so straightforward that it became unbearable.

Karen Allen did what she could, but I truly feel for this woman. She had never got to leave the stage, as she narrated the memory play, and had to which her young self act out the actions she just described. The poor woman is going to have to watch this play over and over again for weeks! I hope she comes out of the experience mind intact.

I agree with dave that normally Rattlestick puts on something of interest, even if the play is somewhat rough around the edges. This one wasn't up to their usual standards.

[macnyc]

Posted: 10/12/12 at 9:59pm

Rain...wind...darkness...rain...anxiety...wind...scared...window...darkness...house...water...wind...rain...window...cold...house...darkness...anxiety...darkness...anxiety...darkness...rain...traumatized (meaning me)...





Updated On: 10/14/12 at 09:59 PM

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 10/13/12 at 12:22am

The intent of the author is to stretch a 1 minute plot into a 90 minute play. I read program notes that this particular author has not caught on particularly well in the US. I must say that the acting is very good and the leading lady (Karen Allen) makes & holds intense eye contact with numerous audience members throughout her delivery of lines. She is a seasoned professional.

(Spoiler) The plot stays with you - a wealthy husband & wife have a boat. The man goes out on the boat on a stormy day. The husband does not return when it gets dark. The wife gets worried and goes to look for him. Neighbors help in the search and are also concerned. I won't spoil the last few minutes.

I actually enjoyed this show. Perhaps I was so sleep deprived from waking up at 6am for work then seeing an 8pm show, that the slow pace helped my enjoyment level. You really don't need to concentrate - just sit back, relax and take in the excellent acting and slow pace. It's quite haunting. And it will stay with you after the show.

Then again, I just love 90 minute shows without an intermission. Falling, Red Dog Howls, Through the Yellow Hour, are all superb.

[After Eight]

Posted: 10/14/12 at 7:50am

"Has anyone else seen or read anything of Jon Fosse's? Is this how most of his works go? "

I've seen two of his other plays. They were fascinating and haunting, heads and shoulders above the things that are produced and heralded at our more prestigious venues. He writes in a distinct voice, stylized, oblique, glancing. The pauses and gazes in his plays are more eloquent and forceful than words. Existentialist in nature, they offer benumbed characters dealing with disconnection and disorientation.

The two plays I saw offered food for thought and compelling theatre. I was disappointed in A Summer Day. It offered food for thought but not compelling theatre. The repetitions mirrored the state of mind of the traumatized woman who could no longer do anything but relive the moments preceding the event that destroyed her life, and wonder both why and what if. The play is as much about the torment of misgivings as it is about the arbitrary cruelty of fate. If only she had accepted his willingness to defer to her wishes, if only she had run down the path as she wanted, if only she hadn't been concerned with her friend's arrival... Second thoughts, relived again and again with no relief or surcease.

The style of the writing is well suited to the play's theme; the problem is, it's not well suited dramatically to holding an audience's interest. It's the character who should be numbed, not us.

That said, Karen Allen is giving a beautifully nuanced performance, which alone makes the play worth seeing. The set and lighting were also evocative.

I'll continue to look forward to seeing more of this author's work.

Updated On: 10/14/12 at 07:50 AM

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 10/14/12 at 11:47am

I applaud Rattlestick for taking risks with their programming, but they constantly produce some of the worst plays I've seen since moving to New York a decade ago.

I guess that's the price you pay as an audience member for being adventurous, but lately the bad ones have been piling up and the good ones are getting more and more scarce.

[macnyc]

Posted: 10/14/12 at 6:40pm

So I have a question about the ending, which I didn't understand, for those who have seen this play.


Spoiler alert!!! *****************************************************

Toward the end of the play Karen Allen's character embraces her younger self, and a couple of moments go by. Then at the very end Karen Allen goes over to her customary place by the window, which we've seen her do throughout the play, but this time she looks into the distance and smiles. She's obviously changed, but I'm not sure why, and I'm not sure what the play was saying. Did she eventually come to accept what happened?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 10/14/12 at 6:53pm

macnyc- I didn't take it mean that she had accepted what happened, but almost like she was content reliving this day over and over. Standing at the window has become her only comfort.

It seems clear to me that this would be so much better as a film. Can't you imagine what Bergman would have done with it? The setting reminds me very much of Through a Glass Darkly, and you can see Harriet Andersson staring out the window at the sea. The thing that's missing from the play that would we would gain in the film is the potential beautiful cinematography and the location filming. Bibi Andersson could play the friend and it would be perfect.

It just doesn't work so well on stage. Persona may be a brilliant movie, but if you simply threw it onstage as is it would take a Herculean effort to get through.

[After Eight]

Posted: 10/14/12 at 6:55pm

Macnyc,

I'd say your interpretation is valid.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 10/14/12 at 7:05pm

I guess the question to ask is do you think she was going to be able to break free from the torment she was in? Was she finally going to sell the house and move back to the city? If she had finally accepted it and was at peace I think the answer would be yes.

I got the impression that she hadn't achieved this level of closure though. When her friend asked if she was ever going to sell, Allen responded that she thought about it all the time, but I don't think she had the conviction yet to leave. I don't think she'll ever be able to leave.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 10/25/12 at 11:00pm

I saw this tonight and really loved it.

I'm going to write this in small sentences because this thread is wacky.

Karen Allen seems born to play this part...she's otherworldly and intense all at once. Really nice bravura turn.

The rest of the cast work hard, but have a very American style and humor and are a strangely ill fit for the play.

The play is definitely Scandinavian, heavy on symbolism and archetype. The Bergman influence is huge.

Those looking for plot/inescapable circumstances/nuanced characters are going to be annoyed.

The play's meaning is deep and unreachable. I think its going to be interpreted differently by whoever sees it.

I saw it as being about narcissism, loss, and the inevitability of loneliness.

[aaronb]

Posted: 10/26/12 at 12:19am

Awful awful awful. You can read my review here: http://scribicide.com/2012/10/25/snoozing-through-a-summer-day/

[macnyc]

Posted: 10/26/12 at 9:06am

Praise from Brantley, but he concedes the play is not to everyone's taste:

http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/theater/reviews/a-summer-day-starring-karen-allen.html?smid=pl-share