"The Color Purple" on Broadway: I Have Seen the Light Praise Jeebusby Randi / April 29, 2016
Honestly? I don’t think I’ve ever smiled so much during a show. Okay, well aside from funnier comedies that make you laugh the whole way through (this season’s “Noises Off” hurt my face, Martin Short’s “Fame Becomes Me” did the same, probably “The Book of Mormon” too). But this was a different kind of constant grinning, the kind that you can’t help but do when you are in the presence of perfection and nothing can bring you down from this floating type of elation. Okay, well aside from the bitches next to you who won’t stop talking until you glare at their male companion until he feels embarrassed on their behalf and then you finally just say shut your mouths or I’ll shut them for you permanently you ungodly pieces of heaving garbage. Okay I didn’t say that but what I am saying is, “She Loves Me” was flawless (well, aside from the actual flaw in the performance I attended, but we will get there) and will live in my heart like a little pink bubble that won’t kill you.
Confession: Although “She Loves Me” is a musical theatre classic from the 1960s, by all- stars Harnick & Bock (also responsible for the sublime music of “Fiddler on the Roof”), and is the source of one of Barbara Cook’s most iconic roles…I didn’t actually know it. I never listened to the original cast album. I didn’t know that the lovely heartfelt showtune “Will He Like Me” was from it, even though I loved that song. Worst of all guys, I mean, what is my favorite movie? Tied for first with “The Princess Bride”? “You’ve Got Mail”, of course, because I’m of sound mind. Well, guess what, “She Loves Me” is of the “You’ve Got Mail”/”Shop Around the Corner” lineage, being also based on the story of “Parfumerie”, the gift that keeps on giving to reinvention. So the fact that I, professional musical theatre obsessor, didn’t know that there was a CLASSIC MUSICAL that was an earlier version of YOU’VE GOT MAIL, well, let’s just say it made me question everything. The only thing I didn’t question was that holy shit, a musical version of “You’ve Got Mail” was going to be the one single [show] in the world that filled [my] heart with joy. (“Well don’t be ridiculous. Have I ever [seen a show] that fit that description? Have you?!”)
So I knew it was going to be good, because of my YGM bias and because the cast was even better than when Broadway forums dream-cast stuff. Man alive, I didn’t know it would be a vegan cream puff of perfection. About that dream cast: Laura Benanti would take the Meg Ryan role, of course, because Laura Benanti is probably the funniest actress there is who is also a sublime soprano. Her Amalia Balash would be edgier than Kathleen Kelly because Laura has the sarcastic deadpan delivery to deadpan all deadpans. Done, amazing, Tony nom guaranteed (and win in any other year). The rest of the cast is where things get interesting. Josh Radnor, the actor behind the much maligned Ted from “How I Met Your Mother” (mostly maligned by me), was initially supposed to play the Tom Hanks role of Georg Novack (spelled like The Sound of Music’s ‘Gay-org’ but just pronounced ‘George’, so why not use the second e huh? Huh?), which is interesting to me because I’ve never heard him sing for real. And also I would just see Ted the whole time and be like UGH YOU SUCK TED STOP WHINING. But luckily, Josh pulled out (so he won’t get preeeeeeeeeeeggggggggggnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnttttt) and Broadway favorite (in just two shows!) Zachary Levi (of “Chuck” fame) stepped in. Listen. Several years ago, Zachary starred in “First Date” on Broadway, which wasn’t a great show but he delighted the whole theatre community, which recognized like, oh Broadway does have the potential to have handsome talented Clooney-style leading men. With Robert Fairchild last year, Steven Pasquale, and now Zachary Levi in his greatest performance yet, we’re in like a golden age of Broadway leading men to match the golden age of actual theatre productions we’re also in. (Can we please get Raul back onstage?)
Levi is even more delightful and enthralling and captivating and joyous than he’s ever been before. He really was perfection. Even better than THanks. His big number, the title song (“she LOOOOVES me!”), was the best moment of the night. There was so much damn joy on that stage, even though he was all by himself, and then he did a cartwheel and it was even more joyous. The song itself is wonderful, with its adorable lyrics that Levi played perfectly (my favorite line is “I’m trembling, what the hell does that mean? I’m freezing. That’s because it’s cold out”. He made it hilarious). I was so surprised at how winning his performance was, even as he was sharing the stage with Benanti and the supporting cast that initially was the reason for drawing me in: Jane Krakowski, Gavin Creel, and Michael McGrath. All my <3s! It’s a relentlessly great cast that was only almost outdone by the jaw-dropping set design. Set in a perfumerie like the original story and not in bookstores, “She Loves Me” tells the story of a group of lovable Hungarian perfumerie clerks in the 1930s, selling their wares while developing relationships with each other, as friends, as lovers, and sometimes as haters. Georg and Amalia initially get on each others nerves, like big time, and they caaaan’t staaaand each other. Little do they know that they have been writing love letters to each other through a Lonely Hearts pen pal kind of thing (the old version of online dating I guess). Their letters start with ‘Dear Friend’, which is where YGM gets it!! loved that!
As their relationship grows in starkly different ways in the shop and in their letters, Georg and Amalia are buoyed by a glorious supporting cast having their own excitement. Amalia’s Miss Rhode Island here is Ilona Ritter, played by the hilarious Jane Krakowski. As hilarious as Jane gets to be on television, her role here was more gentle and endearing, probably because, while she had lots of great lines, Laura’s Amalia had all the zingers. Ilona begins the show by having a very imprudent dalliance with fellow clerk Kodaly, a suave and unkind man played by the suave and very kind and very talented Gavin Creel. Their big number is rousing fun and features Jane doing full splits and then being pulled across the stage – still in the split. Pretty impressive! However, at my performance, some crazy loud whirring noise was coming out behind the speakers on the right side wall, like from behind the boxes. They didn’t stop the show, and I wish they would have. Sometimes you have to keep the show going, and it’s not the actors’ call usually, but man I really wish they stopped it because it was so loud for the mezzanine that you couldn’t even hear Gavin sing. I missed his whole number, pretty much. Actually now that I think about it I wish I asked for a free ticket to another performance. Actually now I’m really mad they didn’t stop the show. Stupid whoever is in charge of that. I could see members of the orchestra looking towards the sound and being like ‘wtf is that!’ grrrr anger.
Okay, breathe, let’s breathe, and whoever knows people at Roundabout make sure they get me a free ticket. Moving on. The only strangely downer part in “She Loves Me” comes courtesy of Byron Jenkins’ Dabney Coleman, I’m assuming. As Maraczek, the owner of the perfumerie (named Maraczek’s), Byron is very mean to poor nicest person ever Georg for no good reason, going so far as to fire him at one point. We find out that it was because he suspected Georg of having an affair with his wife, when of course it wasn’t and of course it was the scoundrel employee among them (Kodaly). When Maraczek finds out he was wrong and fired the wrong man, he tries to kill himself. Fortunately we don’t really see it (just some red lights behind closed doors), and fortunately he doesn’t succeed, but damn, that is some jarring, out-of-place drama if I ever saw it. That poor sad multi-millionaire I feel so *sorry* for him. Happily, Mr. Maraczek is (quickly) fine and makes it up to Georg by promising him the store. So that’s quite good.
Then we have the very lovable Michael McGrath in the Dave Chappelle role of Georg’s bestie and confidante. Listen. Dave Chappelle in “You’ve Got Mail” is one of the great cinematic performances of the century. “She gon be a real dog” is #1 on all AFI lists of Most Influential and Important Film Quotes of all time. Say it with me Kanye-style: OF ALL TIME! He was amazing. So for anyone to try to top that performance is a real test. Luckily, this being set in 1930s Hungary and Michael McGrath being a 58-year-old white man, he was directed differently than Dave was. McGrath plays a kind-hearted, decent man who wants everyone to be happy and everything to run smoothly. He also sees early on that Georg and Amalia love each other, even though they think they hate each other. McGrath was so perfect in this role, I am very sad to report that I think I saw his last performance, because he left the show for personal reasons. I don’t think anyone really knows why and I hope he is okay.
In addition to the perfect cast and the perfect score and direction and everything was the set, perhaps my favorite traditional set design ever. Oh my goodness this set had me jumping up and down in my seat in giddiness metaphorically of course because I would never disturb the people around me in a theatre like that even though everyone else who goes to the theatre seems to have no problem disturbing those around them because we live in an age of entitlement and zero manners. The set was so gorgeous, like a little (but giant) toybox that spun around and opened into endless compartments to form all the different rooms of the shop. It was BIG and BEEYOOTIFUL. Like the architectural version of a French pastry on display in a window.
Obviously I have been saving the best for last. Laura Benanti is so wonderful in this. She’s played a lot of supporting characters, and here she gets the chance to really shine as she was meant to. Amalia lets her break out her rarely heard (lately) beautiful soprano voice, hitting high notes and staying up there with that great operatic style that we don’t really get anymore in newer musicals that are all about belting. But she also plays Amalia with a hardness in her that comes out as comedy and is understandable for her character, before she opens herself up to love. Her comic timing is impeccable, and her specific brand of it is different from anything I’ve seen from a musical theatre actress. Some find her sarcasm and cynicism off-putting but, maybe because that’s often my style of comedy, I love it. Amalia’s big famous number, “Vanilla Ice Cream” (what Georg brings her when she’s sick, like when THanks brings Kathleen daisies because they are her favorite flower and she sneezes in the intercom and it’s so funny and then she has her trio of amazing yeses) was indeed beautiful, but my favorite was the extraordinarily silly “Where’s My Shoe?” Some people hate that song because it’s silly, but omg it was so funny and well done. Amalia is trying to get dressed for work and can’t find her shoe. And she jumps around her bed and stuff and it’s just the funniest thing, so well orchestrated.
This year was unparalleled in the quality of musical revivals. Two fantastic ones, “Spring Awakening” and “The Color Purple”, reinvented their original stories in meaningful, effective ways. While “She Loves Me” didn’t do anything similarly revolutionary, this revival was instead a wonderfully traditional version of its show, nothing revelatory except how perfectly it was done. It’s special to have such insanely high quality of both kinds of reviving in the same season.
AUDIENCE
This is the show where Benanti famously stopped because someone’s phone was ringing. She looked out and said coolly “I’ll wait.” F-ing badass. And because it’s an older traditional show, it does attract the oldies who are typically the worst audience members. Like I said above, the people next to me were f-ing horrible. They weren’t so much old as they were girlfriends excited to be drinking overpriced drinks. Oy. Nothing worse than any other audiences though, really. Side note: Row E in the rearish mezzanine is actually sort of its own front row because there is a break that doesn’t show up on seating charts. So it’s a great seat that happens to be on the cheaper side. Studio 54 (not that one) (is it?) is an enormous cavernous theatre, though, so it all seems far away.
STAGE DOOR
Even though only Zachary Levi came out even though it was a Saturday night and I waited for everrrr, it was still the best stage door experience ever. Just as he did for “First Date”, Levi came out, as he does after every show, with his speakers and turned it into a dance party. He is just so full of joy and gratitude and kindness that it’s infectious and everyone has a gay old time. I hope he stays on Broadway forever. Benanti sent out signed Playbills, which she kindly does very often when she doesn’t sign. Both of them are going beyond the call of duty and it’s really nice.
Related Posts
Home, I’m Darling at the Duke of York: London’s Best New (ish) Play of 2019
It’s Theatre Thursday! Today we are talking about Home, I’m Darling, which is currently playing on theWest End at the Duke of York theatre.
If this picture looks familiar to you, it’s for a good reason: we looked at the new play Home, I’m Darling only five months ago, when it played London’s National Theatre. Further confusing the rules about what constitutes West End and what doesn’t (and more confusingly, since shows at the National are sometimes eligible for Olivier Awards, what the fork the Olivier eligibility is), this play that I absolutely adored last time around has transferred to the official West End. Funnily enough, I saw the very last performance of this show at the National, and I didn’t realize until the interval that I was at the very first preview performance of this West End run, so even though they were five months apart, I saw back-to-back performances. Usually I would frown upon any public critique of a first preview, since they are supposed to be used for making changes. But I have nothing but praise for this show, so I don’t think they’ll mind. Despite a few changes from the last go round, the show was just as I remembered, except tighter and maybe even more enjoyable.
Home, I’m Darling, the pitch perfect comedy from Laura Wade, is the story of Judy (Katherine Parkinson, perfect as ever) and Johnny (Richard Harrington), a married couple who decides to fully immerse themselves in the ‘50s lifestyle they admire by having Judy stop work to become a housewife. Judy is devoted to cleaning the house with era-appropriate methods, cooking era-appropriate meals, wearing era-appropriate clothes (the costumes are still amazing) and generally letting her husband lead the way. While the concept could easily become cartoony, or fail to connect if audiences (like me) think ‘that’s a bad move, Judy’, the play delves into all the issues around this kind of lifestyle and all the problems people would encounter whether they are fully on board or not, making the story much more thought-provoking and interesting than it’s (incredible) candy-colored set would have you initially guess. Doing this in such a masterful way means the whole ‘50s thing is kind of just a framing device for analyzing a typical marriage and the problems couples face after a certain amount of time. I can’t think of another modern play that explores the intricacies of the relationship between husband and wife in such a compelling way while remaining as entertaining and funny.
As ever, Katherine Parkinson gives a star performance, with every decision and movement the property of Judy, even, I believe, the intriguing tone of her voice and manner of delivery. But my real surprise here was Harrington, who didn’t strike me the last time through as Parkinson did. With the passage of time, he has really come to understand Johnny and make his decisions much more convincing and understandable. Together, the two are flawless.
Excitingly, the rest of the cast is mostly changed, and all the newcomers were giving spot-on performances at the first performance. Judy’s mother, now played by Susan Brown, continues to be the persuasive voice of reason, at least to me, in her quest to end this game of her daughter’s that is wasting her potential. It’s a small role, though the mother does get some great monologues, but Brown makes her presence felt so strongly and does so much with what she has that she seems a much bigger character.
I was upset at first to see that Judy’s friend Fran was recast, because at the National, Fran was played by the only actor of color in the whole cast (Kathryn Drysdale). Being a woman of color gave Fran’s interest in following Judy’s lead as a ‘50s-style housewife even more depth, and could have been enhanced to show her assessment of the role. But the new Fran, Siubhan Harrison, really is fantastic. I’ve only seen her in musicals before, so I was impressed by her performance in this straight play. My absolute favorite small moment of the whole show came from her: when Fran and her husband Marcus (still an entertaining scumbag!) are at Judy and Johnny’s house having tea, and Judy brings out her ridiculous achievement of a cake (which Marcus proclaims the best he has ever had), Judy cuts herself a piece and I noticed she shoved the rest of her slice of the ‘interesting’ cake that Fran brought back onto the serving tray. As everyone kept talking and the focus was elsewhere, Fran looked downward for a second and seemed embarrassed. I found this moment incredible, doing so much in literally one second when we’re not even supposed to be looking at Fran.
Yet everything in this play feels this detailed, from the delightful set (and that Act II change, wonderful) to the accurate costumes to the never-ending ballet of food. I mentioned last time that I’ve never seen so much food in a play before. I think we see Judy preparing all three of Johnny’s daily meals (plus snacks and drinks and dessert) for every day we see. I don’t know how they keep it all straight (and I really hope it doesn’t all go to waste). But every aspect of the play had to be this precise to keep up with the writing, which is engaging and unpredictably captivating. Home, I’m Darling is such an unexpected gem that I can’t help but love.
INFORMATION
Every single other piece about this show annoyingly repeats “for 11 weeks only” so I will give you the actual end date: April 13. Was that so hard, everyone else?
After the run on the West End, the show will be touring the UK, with dates in Bath, Salford, and back to its Welsh home of Theatre Clwyd which no I have no idea how to pronounce, it’s probably like Smith or something.
The show is 2 hours 30 minutes with one interval. Like all West End theatres, the Duke of York is in need of a refurb, especially when it comes to the bathrooms – if you sit in the front right stalls, the closest ladies room is up the stairs in the mezzanine, which is very, very stupid.
It’s Theatre Thursday! Today we are talking about Home, I’m Darling, which is currently playing on theWest End at the Duke of York theatre.
If this picture looks familiar to you, it’s for a good reason: we looked at the new play Home, I’m Darling only five months ago, when it played London’s National Theatre. Further confusing the rules about what constitutes West End and what doesn’t (and more confusingly, since shows at the National are sometimes eligible for Olivier Awards, what the fork the Olivier eligibility is), this play that I absolutely adored last time around has transferred to the official West End. Funnily enough, I saw the very last performance of this show at the National, and I didn’t realize until the interval that I was at the very first preview performance of this West End run, so even though they were five months apart, I saw back-to-back performances. Usually I would frown upon any public critique of a first preview, since they are supposed to be used for making changes. But I have nothing but praise for this show, so I don’t think they’ll mind. Despite a few changes from the last go round, the show was just as I remembered, except tighter and maybe even more enjoyable.
Home, I’m Darling, the pitch perfect comedy from Laura Wade, is the story of Judy (Katherine Parkinson, perfect as ever) and Johnny (Richard Harrington), a married couple who decides to fully immerse themselves in the ‘50s lifestyle they admire by having Judy stop work to become a housewife. Judy is devoted to cleaning the house with era-appropriate methods, cooking era-appropriate meals, wearing era-appropriate clothes (the costumes are still amazing) and generally letting her husband lead the way. While the concept could easily become cartoony, or fail to connect if audiences (like me) think ‘that’s a bad move, Judy’, the play delves into all the issues around this kind of lifestyle and all the problems people would encounter whether they are fully on board or not, making the story much more thought-provoking and interesting than it’s (incredible) candy-colored set would have you initially guess. Doing this in such a masterful way means the whole ‘50s thing is kind of just a framing device for analyzing a typical marriage and the problems couples face after a certain amount of time. I can’t think of another modern play that explores the intricacies of the relationship between husband and wife in such a compelling way while remaining as entertaining and funny.
As ever, Katherine Parkinson gives a star performance, with every decision and movement the property of Judy, even, I believe, the intriguing tone of her voice and manner of delivery. But my real surprise here was Harrington, who didn’t strike me the last time through as Parkinson did. With the passage of time, he has really come to understand Johnny and make his decisions much more convincing and understandable. Together, the two are flawless.
Excitingly, the rest of the cast is mostly changed, and all the newcomers were giving spot-on performances at the first performance. Judy’s mother, now played by Susan Brown, continues to be the persuasive voice of reason, at least to me, in her quest to end this game of her daughter’s that is wasting her potential. It’s a small role, though the mother does get some great monologues, but Brown makes her presence felt so strongly and does so much with what she has that she seems a much bigger character.
I was upset at first to see that Judy’s friend Fran was recast, because at the National, Fran was played by the only actor of color in the whole cast (Kathryn Drysdale). Being a woman of color gave Fran’s interest in following Judy’s lead as a ‘50s-style housewife even more depth, and could have been enhanced to show her assessment of the role. But the new Fran, Siubhan Harrison, really is fantastic. I’ve only seen her in musicals before, so I was impressed by her performance in this straight play. My absolute favorite small moment of the whole show came from her: when Fran and her husband Marcus (still an entertaining scumbag!) are at Judy and Johnny’s house having tea, and Judy brings out her ridiculous achievement of a cake (which Marcus proclaims the best he has ever had), Judy cuts herself a piece and I noticed she shoved the rest of her slice of the ‘interesting’ cake that Fran brought back onto the serving tray. As everyone kept talking and the focus was elsewhere, Fran looked downward for a second and seemed embarrassed. I found this moment incredible, doing so much in literally one second when we’re not even supposed to be looking at Fran.
Yet everything in this play feels this detailed, from the delightful set (and that Act II change, wonderful) to the accurate costumes to the never-ending ballet of food. I mentioned last time that I’ve never seen so much food in a play before. I think we see Judy preparing all three of Johnny’s daily meals (plus snacks and drinks and dessert) for every day we see. I don’t know how they keep it all straight (and I really hope it doesn’t all go to waste). But every aspect of the play had to be this precise to keep up with the writing, which is engaging and unpredictably captivating. Home, I’m Darling is such an unexpected gem that I can’t help but love.
INFORMATION
Every single other piece about this show annoyingly repeats “for 11 weeks only” so I will give you the actual end date: April 13. Was that so hard, everyone else?
After the run on the West End, the show will be touring the UK, with dates in Bath, Salford, and back to its Welsh home of Theatre Clwyd which no I have no idea how to pronounce, it’s probably like Smith or something.
The show is 2 hours 30 minutes with one interval. Like all West End theatres, the Duke of York is in need of a refurb, especially when it comes to the bathrooms – if you sit in the front right stalls, the closest ladies room is up the stairs in the mezzanine, which is very, very stupid.
Doctor Faustus at Shakespeare’s Globe: Marlowe’s Old Classic Fails to Move Me
It’s Theatre Thursday! Today’s show is Doctor Faustus, playing at the Globe’s Sam Wanamaker Playhouse until February 2.
I find it quite amusing that the current production of Christopher Marlowe’s classic Doctor Faustus is playing at Shakespeare’s Globe, because I like to imagine the misters M and S (not to be confused with M&S) as terrible rivals who spat whenever they heard the other one’s name, reviled at the very thought of him. So Marlowe would be like WTF give me my own theatre for my plays; they’re just as important! Spoiler: they aren’t. I’m sorry and I really feel for Rupert Everett in Saving Private Shakespeare but Chris’s works do not have the everlasting genius or impact that Billy’s have. His Doctor Faustus was written in the late 1500s right before he died, and it seems more like a last-ditch effort to show the gods that he agrees that hell is bad oh please don’t send me there, instead of it being interesting dramatically. There’s no emotional journey or impact or sense of consequences – even though it’s about being doomed to hell. It’s pretty surprising that literally the biggest stakes imaginable appear so humdrum. This production has attempted to liven things up by employing the hottest production ploy of the season – switching the gender of the lead role – but it adds nothing.
I find it quite amusing that the current production of Christopher Marlowe’s classic Doctor Faustus is playing at Shakespeare’s Globe, because I like to imagine the misters M and S (not to be confused with M&S) as terrible rivals who spat whenever they heard the other one’s name, reviled at the very thought of him. So Marlowe would be like WTF give me my own theatre for my plays; they’re just as important! Spoiler: they aren’t. I’m sorry and I really feel for Rupert Everett in Saving Private Shakespeare but Chris’s works do not have the everlasting genius or impact that Billy’s have. His Doctor Faustus was written in the late 1500s right before he died, and it seems more like a last-ditch effort to show the gods that he agrees that hell is bad oh please don’t send me there, instead of it being interesting dramatically. There’s no emotional journey or impact or sense of consequences – even though it’s about being doomed to hell. It’s pretty surprising that literally the biggest stakes imaginable appear so humdrum. This production has attempted to liven things up by employing the hottest production ploy of the season – switching the gender of the lead role – but it adds nothing.
The theatre space (the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (the indoor theatre at the Globe)) is very cool – uncomfortable as all get-out, but cool – with its intimate seating and old-fashioned candlelight and lack of any set, making the experience as close as possible to how it would have been 500 years ago. Unfortunately, the play feels like it belongs in that time as well, not relevant today. Nothing clicked for me emotionally, so I felt a bit checked out the entire time. It could be because it was meant to affect audiences 500 years ago not emotionally but spiritually, for a group of religious followers to have their own beliefs reaffirmed. It could be because the gender-switch of the main role was undernourished. It could be because the whole concept, the whole cause of the dramatic problem, is bullshirt. Or it could be because as soon as the name Mephistopheles was spoken, I started singing in my head “Ohh well never was there everrr a cat so clever as magical demon Mephistopheles.” (Was Mister Mistoffelees supposed to evoke this infamous demon?? Because it does. (I mean who doesn’t just think about hell-related things all during Cats anyway, am I right.))
My biggest problem is with the plot and how it plays out. (So that’s a big forking problem.) I always knew of Dr. Faustus generally and had an idea about the old German legend of Faust that it’s based on. I assumed that it was about a man who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for riches and glories and knowledge and stuff while on earth. More importantly, I assumed that the devil made the man an offer he couldn’t refuse and the poor man was suckered into agreeing to eternal damnation, too weak or desperate to realize it wasn’t worth it. I DID NOT KNOW that Faustus ACTIVELY sought out this deal himself. Not only did he seek it out, he forking CONJURED THE DEMON TO HIS HOME HIMSELF. I mean, am I supposed to feel bad for a guy who ACTIVELY forking CONJURES THE DEVIL IN ORDER to sell his soul?? No one has ever asked for what they got MORE than this muhfuhker. HE LITERALLY ASKED FOR IT. It opens with Faustus talking about how interested she (she’s a she in this) is in books on magic and conjuring and she wishes she could be better at it like she is at I don’t know REAL SCIENCE/things you can be a doctor in so she like gets a more advanced conjuring book from a friend who is great at conjuring?? it was unclear the wooden benches are tres uncomfortables (I know you said it like I wanted you to say it) so it took me a minute to settle. Anyway so Faustus, a woman who EARNED A DOCTORATE IN SOMETHING REAL, takes the magic book and says the spell for conjuring the forking demon Mephistopheles to her study. Mephistopheles is a woman here too, a red-head who is actually the spawn of Tori Amos and the woman from Newsradio (Vicki Lewis!). And Meph (I can’t keep typing the whole name) is like youuuu raaaaang? And Faustus is like ‘oh hear me Devil, I wish to sell my soul for powers of magic and knowledge of the universe and stuff like that there while I’m on earth!’ and Meph is like ‘um, okay cool, that was easy’ and Faustus is like ‘I’ll give the devil my soul if you give me these powers for 24 years more on earth’ and Meph is like ‘great, deal’ and to her demon friends she’s like ‘hahaha that was so easy just 24 years what a goddamn (literally) sucker, we would have let her have 50 I bet upp upp it’s too late girl, 24 it is.’ AND THAT’S THAT.
Honestly it sucks that Faustus is going to be tortured for eternity but Mephistopheles gets dealt a pretty terrible hand too – she has to stay by Faustus’s side for those 24 years and do whatever magics she wants done. That would be hell too. Faustus is annoying. I mean obviously she sucks for wanting to sell her soul with no qualms about it but she’s really a pain in the ass. Jocelyn Jee Esien is a fine actress I’m sure but this role did nothing for her, because the production simply made the gender switch and that’s all – they did nothing to support the decision. At least in Company, the show with the most acclaimed gender switch of the London theatre season, they reworked aspects of the story to make it make sense that it’s about a woman now. They did a lot more than simply change the pronouns. And yeah you might remember that I wasn’t the biggest fan of that production (I even saw it twice to try to fix my opinion) but I commend that they really worked through the gender change and tried to support the decision across all aspects of the show. Here, the decision is unformed, unassisted by any directorial maneuvers (except having people grab her boobs, so, yeah, no) and so it feels like a lark. They had the opportunity to delve into what the Faustian myth could mean specifically for women, but it’s left unanswered. Kind of disappointing, considering there are no rights holders to worry about arguing with! Making Mephistopheles (Pauline McLynn (but really Vicki Lewis)) a woman is less of a problem because she’s just playing a scary demon and she’s really pretty scary.
My favorite part was when at the initial deal-making phase, Mephistopheles is like ‘Faustus, happy to do this deal, but aren’t you worried at all about spending eternity in hell tortured by demons’ and Faustus actually says ‘nah not really fam, I don’t believe in any of it.’ I MEAN. YOU HAVE LITERALLY JUST CONJURED A DEMON INTO YOUR HOME AND YOU ARE TELLING HER YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN HER??? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TALKING TO?? I can’t. I mean maybe the contract should have been considered void since she was clearly not of sound mind.
The most frustrating part about the show was that there was no real journey for the main character, no growth. I can accept that it wasn’t written for dramatic worth but for religious worth, to confirm to religious people of the time that they were right for renouncing satan, but it doesn’t mean it’s not frustrating to watch. It’s a bit of a chore to see Faustus ruin her life and everyone’s around her when you can never have any sympathy for the character. Without the sympathy or even understanding of why tf she did this knowing full well what would happen, you can’t really care about her demise or her 11th hour plea (the latter of which is supposed to be completely heartbreaking but I was like, ‘so? I got nothing for you.’) And it’s maddening that Faustus doesn’t even really do anything noteworthy with her powers. She could do anything, but all she does for 24 years is what amounts to practical jokes, scaring people by blowing their candles out or moving their possessions and dumb crap that a teenager wouldn’t even settle for. What a waste.
So yeah, this is not my favorite play. I did forget that this was the one with the famous monologue “Is this the face that launched 1000 ships”, so I enjoyed hearing that when it started, but it just made me want to watch “Shakespeare in Love” again. Before seeing this, I assumed I would be saying that the moral of this story is to stay strong and remember that all is not lost and it’s never worth selling your soul to the devil. But now it’s like ‘bitches be loco!’
INFORMATION
The Wanamaker playhouse is the steepest, most uncomfortable theatre yet. It’s small – only four rows or so in level – and lit only with candles, which is cool. The ‘stalls’ is a pit of loose benches with no backs. Then there is the lower level, which seems about stage height and is probably your best bet, especially if you get the fourth row (the last row) so you can lean against the wall. We were in the upper level, which felt like the top of a mountain, especially since the small stage is directly below you. If you’re up there, you have to lean forward on or over the railing pretty much the whole time. The bathrooms are the same ones as for the outdoor Globe theatre space, the ones that smell like public bathroom and have separate entrance/exit doors that no one ever uses properly.
My biggest problem is with the plot and how it plays out. (So that’s a big forking problem.) I always knew of Dr. Faustus generally and had an idea about the old German legend of Faust that it’s based on. I assumed that it was about a man who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for riches and glories and knowledge and stuff while on earth. More importantly, I assumed that the devil made the man an offer he couldn’t refuse and the poor man was suckered into agreeing to eternal damnation, too weak or desperate to realize it wasn’t worth it. I DID NOT KNOW that Faustus ACTIVELY sought out this deal himself. Not only did he seek it out, he forking CONJURED THE DEMON TO HIS HOME HIMSELF. I mean, am I supposed to feel bad for a guy who ACTIVELY forking CONJURES THE DEVIL IN ORDER to sell his soul?? No one has ever asked for what they got MORE than this muhfuhker. HE LITERALLY ASKED FOR IT. It opens with Faustus talking about how interested she (she’s a she in this) is in books on magic and conjuring and she wishes she could be better at it like she is at I don’t know REAL SCIENCE/things you can be a doctor in so she like gets a more advanced conjuring book from a friend who is great at conjuring?? it was unclear the wooden benches are tres uncomfortables (I know you said it like I wanted you to say it) so it took me a minute to settle. Anyway so Faustus, a woman who EARNED A DOCTORATE IN SOMETHING REAL, takes the magic book and says the spell for conjuring the forking demon Mephistopheles to her study. Mephistopheles is a woman here too, a red-head who is actually the spawn of Tori Amos and the woman from Newsradio (Vicki Lewis!). And Meph (I can’t keep typing the whole name) is like youuuu raaaaang? And Faustus is like ‘oh hear me Devil, I wish to sell my soul for powers of magic and knowledge of the universe and stuff like that there while I’m on earth!’ and Meph is like ‘um, okay cool, that was easy’ and Faustus is like ‘I’ll give the devil my soul if you give me these powers for 24 years more on earth’ and Meph is like ‘great, deal’ and to her demon friends she’s like ‘hahaha that was so easy just 24 years what a goddamn (literally) sucker, we would have let her have 50 I bet upp upp it’s too late girl, 24 it is.’ AND THAT’S THAT.
Honestly it sucks that Faustus is going to be tortured for eternity but Mephistopheles gets dealt a pretty terrible hand too – she has to stay by Faustus’s side for those 24 years and do whatever magics she wants done. That would be hell too. Faustus is annoying. I mean obviously she sucks for wanting to sell her soul with no qualms about it but she’s really a pain in the ass. Jocelyn Jee Esien is a fine actress I’m sure but this role did nothing for her, because the production simply made the gender switch and that’s all – they did nothing to support the decision. At least in Company, the show with the most acclaimed gender switch of the London theatre season, they reworked aspects of the story to make it make sense that it’s about a woman now. They did a lot more than simply change the pronouns. And yeah you might remember that I wasn’t the biggest fan of that production (I even saw it twice to try to fix my opinion) but I commend that they really worked through the gender change and tried to support the decision across all aspects of the show. Here, the decision is unformed, unassisted by any directorial maneuvers (except having people grab her boobs, so, yeah, no) and so it feels like a lark. They had the opportunity to delve into what the Faustian myth could mean specifically for women, but it’s left unanswered. Kind of disappointing, considering there are no rights holders to worry about arguing with! Making Mephistopheles (Pauline McLynn (but really Vicki Lewis)) a woman is less of a problem because she’s just playing a scary demon and she’s really pretty scary.
My favorite part was when at the initial deal-making phase, Mephistopheles is like ‘Faustus, happy to do this deal, but aren’t you worried at all about spending eternity in hell tortured by demons’ and Faustus actually says ‘nah not really fam, I don’t believe in any of it.’ I MEAN. YOU HAVE LITERALLY JUST CONJURED A DEMON INTO YOUR HOME AND YOU ARE TELLING HER YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN HER??? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TALKING TO?? I can’t. I mean maybe the contract should have been considered void since she was clearly not of sound mind.
The most frustrating part about the show was that there was no real journey for the main character, no growth. I can accept that it wasn’t written for dramatic worth but for religious worth, to confirm to religious people of the time that they were right for renouncing satan, but it doesn’t mean it’s not frustrating to watch. It’s a bit of a chore to see Faustus ruin her life and everyone’s around her when you can never have any sympathy for the character. Without the sympathy or even understanding of why tf she did this knowing full well what would happen, you can’t really care about her demise or her 11th hour plea (the latter of which is supposed to be completely heartbreaking but I was like, ‘so? I got nothing for you.’) And it’s maddening that Faustus doesn’t even really do anything noteworthy with her powers. She could do anything, but all she does for 24 years is what amounts to practical jokes, scaring people by blowing their candles out or moving their possessions and dumb crap that a teenager wouldn’t even settle for. What a waste.
So yeah, this is not my favorite play. I did forget that this was the one with the famous monologue “Is this the face that launched 1000 ships”, so I enjoyed hearing that when it started, but it just made me want to watch “Shakespeare in Love” again. Before seeing this, I assumed I would be saying that the moral of this story is to stay strong and remember that all is not lost and it’s never worth selling your soul to the devil. But now it’s like ‘bitches be loco!’
INFORMATION
The Wanamaker playhouse is the steepest, most uncomfortable theatre yet. It’s small – only four rows or so in level – and lit only with candles, which is cool. The ‘stalls’ is a pit of loose benches with no backs. Then there is the lower level, which seems about stage height and is probably your best bet, especially if you get the fourth row (the last row) so you can lean against the wall. We were in the upper level, which felt like the top of a mountain, especially since the small stage is directly below you. If you’re up there, you have to lean forward on or over the railing pretty much the whole time. The bathrooms are the same ones as for the outdoor Globe theatre space, the ones that smell like public bathroom and have separate entrance/exit doors that no one ever uses properly.
