Reviews on The New York Timers Page
REVIEW by KEVIN MARTIN
January 2008
Samuel Beckett's HAPPY DAYS at Brooklyn Academy of Music.
{Closed Feb. 2} Directed by Deborah Warner; with Fiona Shaw;
Both a huge white sheet amid enormously-mixed mounds of rock and bog and an absolutely earth pounding, unforgettable locomotive - rip-roaring, pre-show sound effect grace the exquisitely lit, opening moments of HAPPY DAYS, - Samuel Beckett's ode to human uncertainty now showing at BAM. With Fiona Shaw as Winnie and staged with smooth, grand intelligence by Ms. Warner, this piece is a great awakening. "There is so little one can do, one does it all", Winnie utters outwardly as she ponders her existence. Her husband Willie arises from his own unterbog early on in Winne's witty lament; hers is a reflection on living misery, conscious or otherwise, - a clarion alert that our "sorrow keeps breaking in". " I can't say anymore for the moment", she asserts. This is a key puzzle piece to Winnie's dim but anxious experience. Beckett remains an eternal voice in the language of theatre. HAPPY DAYS is the turgid reminder that time is short and life is strange; "do something"!, she calls out to herself as well to Willie, - though to no lasting satisfaction. For Beckett, we all "make ready for the night" with lasting futility. Winnie longs for contact that may be unfamiliar; for Willie is now as much her "crawler" as he is her husband. Though love is in great demand, it's in short supply. Willie, too, is in short supply. Willie himself needs love. Indeed, we are all burdened by the threatening weight of emptiness. There is no question that Ms. Shaw's sparkling, innate sense of humor brings enjoyment to this production. Shaw's physical presence is a comfortable fit. Her clear, expressive eyes communicate radiance, with a warmly engaging face added for complement. In the second half, Winnie is fully entrenched in her bog of mortal stuck-ness. "To sing too soon is often fatal", she warns us. Winnie is Beckett's messenger, advising all who may like to listen that we are living out our limitations. When for a short moment, Willie - by the excellent Tim Potter - emerges from his bogged down struggle to make contact with Winnie - ("this is another happy day" she proclaims), that nearness of contact has a fragile register as our longed-for freedom from this mortal coil teases us back into oblivion. Beckett is articulating the inevitable. Warner, Shaw, and Potter churn it all into a bittersweet reminder: life is indeed a walking shadow that struts and frets its hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. - KEVIN MARTIN
A Timeless New York Timer's Pick for the 2013 Off Broadway season?
=========================
Get to the Irish Rep., - and Check Out Brian Friel's "FREEDOM OF THE CITY"! Oct. 6 - Jan. 20, 2013A really, really very good gem is frequently quite hard to find in New York City - even at Tiffany's, I am told. Friends of the family have recently made that lament on visits to such high-end stores, as can be found in New York. Items there are usually quite dazzling to the senses, as any cognizant mortal, who steps inside for a good look, would attest. However, add to that extra-true reality some honest sensitivity to the experience of human truth telling, as per the spoken word and liveliness of the stage, then you would - and for a lot less payment - just chance on having had made a recent visit to the Irish Repertory on East 22nd Street, west of Sixth Avenue. On stage is the current presentation of Brian Friel's play. "Freedom of the City", neatly reminding us of the pain and trauma swept up in "The Troubles" of a politically bitter existence - between Catholic and Protestant factions of Ireland.
These were times when hearts were volcanic on all sides- enduring a bitter, violent period which had long awaited a civil, and hopefully final resolution in recent years. Congratulations to all: Ciarán O'Reilly (Director); Starring Ciaran Byrne, Clark Carmichael, James Russell, Christa Scott-Reed, Cara Seymour, Joseph Sikora, Peter Cormican, Craig Wroe, Evan Zes, and John C. Vennema.
- KEVIN MARTIN