Just wanted to start a thread for the new/old/revised Kushner play at The Public. First preview was last night - was anyone there? Thoughts on the play or cast? Running time?
Overly long on multiple levels! They claim a running time of 2:45 but it was 3 hours for the first preview. The first act was painfully long for me, though the second act was slightly redeeming.
SouthernCakes said: "Which space is this in? I was there 2 weeks ago for Soft Power and the whole venue seemed packed. Is it in the really small downstairs theater?"
Anspacher
A little swash, a bit of buckle - you'll love it more than bread.
JeffDaEgg2 said: "Overly long on multiple levels! They claim a running time of 2:45 but it was 3 hours for the first preview. The first act was painfully long for me, though the second act was slightly redeeming."
I was at the first preview and found the play hard to sit through. Just couldn't get into the story and the jumping ahead in time with interruptions and freezers of scenes really annoying. I kept looking at my watch over and over again.
I saw a production of this play in college and I found it pretty unbearable. I’ve been planning to see this production anyway, partly to give it another chance in a professional setting, but also because of the incredible cast. Now wondering if I should just skip it.
How are the performances? Do they salvage the show at all?
ModernMillie3 said: "My eyes just glazed at one point for like an hour. Not exactly entertaining and very, very long."
I always feel so bad when that happens with a show that I see. And tbh, I've found that a lot of times that has happened with shows I've seen there. Not a lot, but several.
The play stops and two actors come on stage, while the others are frozen in time.After awhile the two leave and the story in the past continues till those two come on again.
This can be a tough one to get right. I was first introduced to it with a solid college black box production. It moved surprisingly fast because they kept Zillah onstage (technically, on a platform in the back of the house) the whole show. I take it this is a production of the Revisited text with Zillah and Xillah instead of just Zillah
I saw it the other night. It's definitely Tony Kushner putting everything he can into one play, but without the mastery he reached with "Angels in America" five years later. There's a new layer that takes place in the present, with the playwright looking back and commenting on his work -- it gets a little Pirandellian and goes on a little long, but it's interesting. The actors are all wonderful. The performance I saw was the second preview -- I hope it tightens up a bit, because it does feel too long. (Three hours with one intermission.) The audience was split: There were quite a few empty seats after the intermission, but some of those who stayed gave it a standing ovation. An imperfect work, but worth seeing (and talking about), I think.
Correct, both Zillah and Xillah are there. I'm also pretty sure that Kushner has made even more updates for this production (based on Oskar Eustis' note in the Playbill, and the many references to Trump and other events). It felt to me like the play was trying to get a lot of "we agree!" applause, which fortunately didn't happen. I'm personally sick of topical lines that beg for applause when we all know that 99% of the people in the audience have similar points of view on Trump, etc (myself included).
On a very different note, I'm hoping that they figured out the logistics for the fire that's used in this. It's on for an extended period of time at one point and the gas fumes were overwhelming. It smelled like the theatre was about to explode! It couldn't have been healthy, either...
It felt to me like the play was trying to get a lot of "we agree!" applause, which fortunately didn't happen. I'm personally sick of topical lines that beg for applause when we all know that 99% of the people in the audience have similar points of view on Trump, etc (myself included).
Also a pet peeve of mine. It’s the equivalent of a cheap laugh.
Completely agree with ebroadway. I went tonight with more than a little trepidation. Found myself engrossed and, at times, a little frightened at just how relevant and timely this is---even without the anti-Trump commentary. There's correlary in the story of Berlin in the 30's, the rise of fascism, and what we see happening in our own country today. It's a message worth our attention. Estelle Parsons is fine in what's really a small, darkly comedic role, if a bit thin. Michael Urie and Linda Emond are both well cast here. The play is long. 3 hours tonight. It could be pared down to a swift, pointed 2 with some judicious editing of the characters of Husz and Paulinka, both a wee bit overplayed by Michael Esper and Grace Gummer. Nikki M. James, Agnes Eggling, is wonderful and worth every minute! I thought I'd really dislike it but am happy to say I did not. I would encourage people to go. And pay attention.
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joined:10/30/19
joined:
10/30/19
Posted: 10/30/19 at 1:49pm