BWW Reviews: LOOK BACK IN ANGER - A Bold Choice for Young Company
Year-old theater company, The Seeing Place opened their latest production last week. The 50 year old play by John Osborne called LOOK BACK IN ANGER is a surprising choice for a young ensemble, but theater-goers will see it is one that perfectly showcases the range of this talented group.
The admittedly turbulent script settles itself into the working-class lives of Jimmy Porter (BranDon Walker) and his wife Alison (Anna Marie Sell). The couple lives with Jimmy's close friend Cliff (Adam Reich) in a flat in the English Midlands (according to the program notes) in 1956. Jimmy is fast-talking and intelligent yet cutting and often verbally abusive to those closest to him. Despite Jimmy, or some might argue, because of Jimmy's nature, Cliff and Alison form a deep friendship that adds texture to what would otherwise become an unbalanced story. When Alison's socialite friend Helena, for whom Jimmy has professed undying hatred, comes to stay at the flat, things really get going.
In its time, LOOK BACK IN ANGER was groundbreaking because it featured working-class characters (and notably, the first to feature an iron on stage) and addressed Britain's role in a post-imperial world. Funny though, how such topics would prove to be so relevant for its present-day, New York audience; BranDon Walker (who also serves as The Seeing Place's Artistic Director) says it best in the program note. He writes of the group's attraction to the piece that "there's something immediate [about the play], something that speaks to a country that has begun to question its position and to its overeducated and underemployed citizens, who are lost and searching for their own footing in the world."
Also, this review would be incomplete without noting the beautifully understated design of this production - particularly the costumes (by Stephanie Pope) which evoked the period in a delightfully transportive way.
In short, The Seeing Place exemplifies what good, thought-provoking, well-crafted theater is all about. While the script isn't above a few melodramatic turns characteristic of the era, the cast swerves to meet them with nuance and ease. I was continually impressed by The Players' ability to create and surprise - they seemed to be in the act of discovery in every moment. One thing is sure of this production, and I suspect of upcoming Seeing Place fare, the audience is in capable hands.
LOOK BACK IN ANGER closes October 30 at ATA's Sargent Theater.
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