HUGH JACKMAN comes to Broadway's most intimate playhouse in THE RIVER, a gripping new drama that thrilled and mesmerized audiences during a sold-out London run.
On a moonless evening, a man brings his new girlfriend to a remote cabin for a night of trout-fishing. But before the night is over, it becomes clear that nothing is as it seems... and as memory collides with desire, the truth becomes the most elusive catch of all.
From playwright JEZ BUTTERWORTH and director IAN RICKSON comes this haunting and seductive new play that has already become the must-see event of the season.
Presented by Sonia Friedman Productions, the Royal Court Theatre production of The River will open on Sunday, November 16 on Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre (West 50th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue).
But the characters aren't simply anonymous - they're ciphers. As distinctive as the actors are individually (Jumbo has a fierceness, Donnelly a stridency), there's an impersonal quality to their portrayals that makes the relationships hard to credit. Jackman, whose electric aura challenges our acceptance of him as an ordinary bloke, is all concentrated modesty. But the character of this man, a narcissist with a game face, ultimately seems less real than the dead fish he prepares and consumes before our eyes. Those feeling cheated for having paid $175 for a ticket to this barely 90-minute sketch can tell themselves they've shared a meal with Wolverine.
Jackman himself is earnest and slightly flabbergasted as his character's narrative and memory gradually crack, but lacks any real slipperiness, making him more a victim of circumstance than a man complicit in his past tales. The actor's natural sweetness shines through when what we really want to see is the rogue. The role may get more mileage from a wolf, not a Wolverine. Butterworth's voice is always welcome and he returns with a pretty, less bombastic script than 'Jerusalem,' though one with gorgeous turns of phrase. (A fish is 'like a bar of precious metal. Like God's tongue.') He has a knack for dialogue between two people testing each other and his recurring love of fearsome nature - 'There are monsters out there. Huge monsters,' the fisherman warns about the fish - is darkly romantic.
1988 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
2014 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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