SEA WALL / A LIFE at The Public

[Danielle49]

Sea Wall / A Life, featuring works by Nick Payne and Simon Stephens and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge, will begin previews at the Public tonight. Opening night is set for February 14th.

Who's planning on going? I’m not seeing the show until late March, but if you have any reports during the run, post em here!

[Jordan Catalano]

I’m seeing it later this month.

<——— Obviously I’m stoked.

[JBC3]

Also very eager to see these and Jake in Velvet Buzzsaw on Netflix tonight. He looks delicious as an over-the-top art critic.

[JSquared2]

Has TodayTix sent out any confirmations about tonight's free preview performance?  

[macnyc]

If you go on TodayTix, click on Me at the bottom right of the screen and go to My Orders. If you entered, it will show up as an order with the status Pending. 

 

edited to add: I just got the Better luck next time! email.

[SJAfan]

They have - I won but can't go anymore (snagged HP tix for last night and tonight for $65 total for Dress Circle on StubHub! They were crazy inexpensive for this performance). I released them back to todaytix. 

[CT2NYC]

[YoungSally]

Dress Circle at the Public?  Did they reconfigure the Newman for this?

[CT2NYC]

YoungSally said: "Dress Circle at the Public? Did they reconfigure the Newman for this?"

No, he's talking about the dress circle at the Lyric.

[Danielle49]

YoungSally said: "Dress Circle at the Public? Did they reconfigure the Newman for this?"

SJAfan is referring to the Dress Circle tickets they purchased for Harry Potter

[BIG BALONEY]

I couldn't wait for these two short monologue plays to end. Both actors are tops but the plays are not. Clocking in at 1:45 total with one intermission this evening was depressing from the start. Both plays deal with death. The first one called Sea Wall deals with the loss of a child and the second A Life deals with the death of a father and dealing with the birth of a daughter. Thought I would miss something if I didn't see it, now sorry I did.

[JBC3]

Is it the topics you did not like or the way the playwrights treated them?

[Jordan Catalano]

Is Jake onstage the entire time?

[LarryD2]

Jordan Catalano said: "Is Jake onstage the entire time?"

No, the two monologues are performed separately. Tom Sturridge performs SEA WALL and Gyllenhaal performs A LIFE.

[Jordan Catalano]

Is Jake act one or act two?

[BIG BALONEY]

Jake is in Act 2. I wasn't into the subject matter in both plays, to me they were downers.

[JBroadway]

Saw the show tonight.

Personally, I thought that A Life was better than Sea Wall. What's interesting here is that Sea Wall has actually been around for over a decade, whereas (I believe) this is the premiere of A Life. But the two pieces are very similar to each other. So you could make a case that A Life is really derivative of Sea Wall. Except that A Life just does it all so much better. 

Both plays deal with the loss of a loved one, but while Sea Wall uses the tragedy to punch the audience in the gut with a horrifyingly tragic event, Sea Wall feels more organic, honest, and relatable. It also actually DEALS with the emotions of it in a nuanced way, as opposed to Sea Wall which just feels like a young playwright trying to come up with something tragic just for the sake of having superficial impact on the audience. 

Both stories are told non-linearly, and similar to what I said above, Sea Wall's non-linear structure feels like a stylistic flare, just to add suspense and intrigue to the story. Meanwhile the non-linear structure in A Life feels absolutely essential to the content of the play, and the ideas being presented. 

Both actors are strong, but again I have to give the edge to Gyllenhaal's performance in A Life, which just feels more dynamic, and it feels like he's embracing the text more. 

Any time two pieces are done on the same bill, or done in rep, you have to ask the question: why pair these two plays together? On the surface, it might seem really obvious here, because the two plays are so similar. But I would argue that they are TOO similar to each other. They are both essentially saying the same thing, so putting them together feels redundant. There's no dialogue between them, no push-and-pull. They don't add up to anything greater than the sum of each individual play. So putting them together feels redundant. Having said that, something is done with the ending that attempts to tie them together. It doesn't entirely work, but it's a beautiful moment, and effective on a more visceral level. 

Despite my criticisms, I'd say this is worth it for the performances, and for the 2nd play. If you're really on the fence about this, I might even suggest sitting out the first one and popping in at intermission (which comes roughly at 8:45)

[LightsOut90]

JBroadway said: " I might even suggest sitting out the first one and popping in at intermission (which comes roughly at 8:45)"

what an incredibly rude thing to suggest 

[LarryD2]

LightsOut90 said: "JBroadway said: "I might even suggest sitting out the first one and popping in at intermission (which comes roughly at 8:45)"

what an incredibly rude thing to suggest"

Not rude at all. People spend their money and can use their tickets any way they choose. It's no different than leaving a show at intermission.

[JBroadway]

LightsOut, I understand why you'd say that, as it's not something I would ever do personally. And I would especially never do it in an ordinary 2-act play. But some people are very particular about how they spend their time at the theatre, and that's their choice. And given the fact that this is a double-bill, it seems like it would be a little bit more appropriate. Along the same lines as choosing to only see 1 of 2 plays in rep. These are two different plays by 2 different playwrights, with a different cast. 

Anyway, I don't really want to get into a whole thing about this. It was an off-hand comment, not really central to my overall point. I apologize if I caused offense. 

[Dollypop]

I was looking forward to seeing these plays but I don't think the subject matter is appropriate for someone who is battling cancer. Will skip this one.

[BIG BALONEY]

Smart move because it reminded me of a friend who died recently and put me in a strange mood.The subject matter is disturbing.

[Dollypop]

Thanks for the advice. I am confident that I'll beat this but it has certainly made me aware of my mortality.

[dave1606]

I saw this last night and echo the consensus that A Life is the better of the two. I thought Tom Sturridge was excellent but I was very frustrated by the play itself which seemed to present little more than misery for 45 minutes. 

Jake Gyllenhaal has such a warm presence and I thought he was so believable as a father to be. He's a very talented actor and it definitely is worth the price of admission to watch him alone on a stage for 50 minutes do his thing. 

I've seen all the Nick Payne/Jake Gyllenhaal plays and this is the only one I have actually liked. I thought it had a nice balance of humor and pain, a nice contrast to the birth/death on the play. Nice to have Jake play the piano for a little bit too!  I didn't think the ending that tries to tie both stories together was necessary. Even if they are similar thematically they are definitely separate pieces. 

[teatime2]

Caught this last night. Sturridge is an absolutely fantastic actor, but his material leaves much more to be desired. Gyllenhaal is the star of the night, and you could tell the crowd also enjoyed him more. His material is also significantly better and much more enjoyable. Go see this if you can for Gyllenhaal alone!