Tony, Olivier, Emmy and Golden Globe winner Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad," All the Way) makes his "electrifying" (The New York Times) return to Broadway in the National Theatre's critically acclaimed production of Network, now a New York Times Critic's Pick.
In Lee Hall's adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky's Academy Award-winning film, anchorman Howard Beale (Cranston) unravels live on-screen. But when the ratings soar, the network seizes on its newfound prophet, and Howard becomes the biggest thing on TV.
"You owe yourself the thrill of watching Bryan Cranston in Network," raves Ben Brantley of The New York Times. Tony and Olivier winner Ivo van Hove (A View From the Bridge) directs this unique, immersive multimedia spectacle, also starring Tony Goldwyn ("Scandal") and Emmy Award winner Tatiana Maslany ("Orphan Black").
Catch the must-see theatrical event of the season, now through June 8.
With its continual sensory overload and its darkly vague intimations about populism and corporate power, this Network certainly looks cool. But it’s beyond cool: It’s icy. We seem intended to nod our heads and think about how prescient it all was—the mob appeal of anger, a mention of Saudi Arabia—but then to think no more. Network isn’t galvanizing, it’s numbing: emptily flashy in its condemnation of empty flash, inhuman in its wan defense of humanity. It has a superb TV star and a killer catch phrase, but behind the sound and fury is only a shadow of significance.
The adaptation by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot) sticks close to Chayefsky's original script, with mixed results. References to, say, The Mary Tyler Moore Show once gave Network a startling contemporaneity, but now seem a tad camp. And hearing, with fresh ears, that melodramatic monologue that won Beatrice Straight an Oscar does little but suggest just how good Straight was. That's no slight against Alyssa Bresnahan, who plays the role on stage, but lightning can't strike twice.
2017 | West End |
National Theatre World Premiere West End |
2018 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2019 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Bryan Cranston |
2019 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | Network |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Bryan Cranston |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | Network |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Projection Design | Tal Yarden |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Sound Design | Eric Sleichim |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Ivo van Hove |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Jan Versweyveld |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Bryan Cranston |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Jan Versweyveld |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Play | Eric Sleichim |
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