I'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers

        The day the Tony award nominations came out, there was a large public outcry (well, large in the theater community) about performances and shows that got snubbed. One of the first names on the list of "should have been's" was Bette Midler for her portrayal of the late Hollywood Mega agent Sue Mengers.

      At the time of the nominations I had not yet seen the play, and could not fairly judge whether or not she deserved to be nominated. Now that I have seen the play, and 3 out the 5 performances that were nominated, I can safely say I agree with the dive miss M's lack of a nomination.

     How can I arrive to that conclusion without having seen all of the performances that were nominated? I'll tell you. Of the three performances that I did see, I would not have replaced any of those nominations based on what I saw. In addition, there were other performances that were NOT nominated that if the performances I had NOT seen were NOT nominated that I would fill those slot's with before I would have nominated Bette Midler.

     Perhaps I should have prefaced this blog entry with the fact that I LOVE BETTE MIDLER! I've seen her in concert, her Cd's were some of the first that I ever owned as a young gay. Her performance in the TV movie version of Gypsy is gold to me. Hocus Pocus changed my life. Beaches makes me teary eyed every time I see it, and I was one of the few people who knew exactly what Jennifer Lawrence was doing in her acceptance speech. I LOVE Bette!

    Nor is she giving a bad performance in this play. First let's talk about John Logan's script. John Logan won a Tony award for writing Red. I thought that was a very poorly written play. John Logan writes very captivating film scripts. He wrote the screen play for SKYFALL among many other things. I"LL EAT YOU LAST is a 90 minute inside conversation. If you're a person who knows or has an interest in the Hollywood heyday of the 70's and 80's than you probably enjoyed or would enjoy this play very much. If the names and movies being mentioned to you are as unfamiliar as the period table of elements is to a 6 year old, than you're probably not having as good a time.

    This is where Bette Midler shines. She makes the play accessible to all people regardless of their being in the know. She makes you feel like you're a part of it all. The play runs at 90 minutes. The wonderful thing about it is that just as it's starting to feel tedious, it's over. It knows exactly when to call it quits. Bette keeps things going at break neck speed. Occasionally pausing for dramatic affect, or rather comedic affect, or to light up a cigarette, or a joint.

    The reason Bette didn't get a Tony award nomination is because she is giving the kind of performance that you expect to see from Bette Midler. She is playing a persona rather than a person. Now, there are some very interesting scenes of Sue Mengers talking about moving to the USA and learning how to speak English. Bette actually surprises here with her depth and understanding, though the depth isn't more than a few feet deep. For the most part, the performance is kept at a decibel of 7-8 out of 10.

       Scott Pask has designed the set to be exactly what you might think the California living room of a Hollywood agent might look like. How accurate a depiction of Sue Mengers actual living room it is I couldn't tell you, but it works very well for the play. Ann Roth has outfitted the Davine Bette or rather, Sue, in a very hippie style caftan dress. It's long, flowing, and could double as pajamas. The lighting by Hugh Vanstone is functional, and there really isn't much going on in the way of special lighting effects.

    Overall this is not a play that I would expect to see done very much regionally, and certainly not in community theaters or colleges. I would imagine that it has very little appeal outside of New York and L.A. Sue Mengers was a very interesting woman, and her story is quite rare given the time period and the fact that she was a woman. For that, the play, or at least  the subject, is worth celebrating.

    I'll Eat you Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers continues at The Booth Theater through Sunday June 30th. If you arrive at the theater 2 hours before the box office opens you have a very good chance of receiving a same day rush ticket for $35.

Nice Work if you can get it.

         One of these days  I will be able to start writing blogs about shows right after they open instead of right before they close. Today is not that day, and next *spoiler alert* next Wednesdays blog wont be either! At least today I'm writing about a show that is still open! Until Saturday June 15th that is. 

         Nice Work if you can get it is subtitled, "The New Gershwin Musical". Which is not really the truth. It's a new reworking of an old Gershwin musical. Nice Work is loosely based on the 1926 musical Oh, Kay! which had an original book by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse. Both of those gentlemen are given credit in  the Nice Work playbill. The new book is by Joe DePietro. 

      The only songs from the original Oh, Kay! That is used in Nice Work if you can get it are Do, do, do, and Someone to watch over me. Every other song has been interpolated from other Gershwin musicals. Taking place in prohibition era New York, the story follows that of Jimmy Winter (Matthew Broderick) a rich long island playboy who is about to be married for the 4th time. The night before the wedding Jimmy meets a lady bootlegger named Billie Bendix (Jessie Mueller). In a drunken stupor he tells her of his swanky Long Island beach house that he hardly ever uses. Billie, being a bootlegger, thinks this would be a swell place to hide her hooch until the heat dies down. Of course, Jimmy shows up with his new bride and hi jinx ensue.

        The music is Gershwin so you can't go wrong there. Each song has been (almost) perfectly worked into the book by Joe DiPietro. Things are locked into place, but you can tell some of the pieces of the puzzle don't quite belong where they are. The book is funny, but it's a particular kind of funny. If you enjoy big brash screwball comedies with corny jokes this is the show for you. There are a few genuine belly laughs in the book. Judy Kaye plays a Duchess so set on ridding the USA of "demon rum" that she has founded an organization called "The Society of Dry Women". 

    The sets and costumes are lavish. Derek McLane has given us the kid of sets you don't see in Broadway musicals very often anymore. They are stylistic rather than realistic, and beautiful to look at. In one of the last shows he designed before he died, Martin Paklidinaz has given us a luscious wardrobe that perfectly evokes the period, while simultaneously poking a little fun at each character. The wedding dress worn by Eileen Evergreen (Jennifer Laura Thompson) at the end of the show is "Delicious".

    Kathleen Marshal is always on top of her game as a director and choreographer. She sometimes has the tendency to add dance sequences where there needn't be any. This show is no exception to that rule, but the dancing is always so good that you don't really mind. The only complaint about that is it makes the show run a bit longer than it needs to.

       Matthew Broderick is back in a musical for the first time since The Producers. He has a sweet and lovely voice, and he's a fine actor, but he's miscast in this role. Everyone knows that Matthew Broderick has a youthfulness about him that doesn't seem to ever go away, but the man is over 50. While Matthew certainly doesn't look 50, he does look about 45, which is about ten years too old to sell this character. It would also have helped if he could dance a little better. 

       Jessie Mueller has  taken over the role of Billie Bendix from Kelly O'Hara. Jessie Mueller is a joy to watch in everything she does and Nice Work is no exception. She makes a full meal out of every Gershwin tune she sings. Her characterization is perfect, her comic timing is impeccable. She is younger than Kelly, and so makes Matthew Broderick look even older by comparison, and there isn't much romantic chemistry between the two of them, which is unfortunate.

    In two Tony award winning featured actor performances, Judy Kaye as Duchess Estonia Dulworth and Michael McGrath as Cookie McGee steal nearly every scene they are in. It's easy to see why the pair of them went home with the gold last year. Jennifer Laura Thompson (who was my favorite Glinda in Wicked), Robyn Hurder, and and Chris Sullivan also shine in supporting roles. 

     It's a shame that ticket sales for this show haven't been higher. I'm sure the producers tried without success to find a suitable replacement for Matthew Broderick. I guess John Stamos wasn't interested. If you get to see this show before it closes on Saturday, you should have a good time. If you can't see it on Broadway, I'm sure it will become a popular title among regional and community theaters. When it closes, Nice Work if you can get it will have played 27 previews and 478 regular performances at The Imperial Theater.

The Tony Awards - who will win, and who should win.

        It's finally here, Gay Christmas! Otherwise known as the Tony Awards! It's Broadway's biggest night, hosted once again by the mayor of Broadway, Neil Patrick Harris. There will be more performances than ever this year, as shows that are nominated, and shows from years past will grace the stage at Radio City Music Hall. It's sure to be an exciting night, and now what you've all been waiting for.

Should Win Wi
Will Win
Should and Will


Best Choreography

Andy Blankenbuehler, Bring It On: The Musical
Peter Darling, Matilda The Musical
Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots
Chet Walker, Pippin

Chet Walker has truly helped create stage magic in the revival of Pippin. Truthfully, it should be a joint nomination with Gypsy Snyder, but I digress. Making the dance style of Bob Fosse work with the circus creations of Gypsy Snyder is definitely worthy of a Tony win! 

Best Direction of a Play

Pam MacKinnon, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Nicholas Martin, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Bartlett Sher, Golden Boy
George C. Wolfe, Lucky Guy

Pam MacKinnon deserves to win for her superb direction of Virginia Woolf. More than likely to win is Nicholas Martin for the well received, and well reviewed Vanya and Sonia. 

Best Direction of a Musical

Scott Ellis, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots
Diane Paulus, Pippin
Matthew Warchus, Matilda The Musical

This is one of only two categories in which I'm not 100% certain of my choice. I'm sure of my choice of who SHOULD win, and that is most certainly Dianne Paulus for her stunning revival of Pippin. She has taken a piece of theater that has become synonymous with one style of direction and given it new life. 

Her only real competition is Matthew Warchus for Matilda. Matilda is a huge show, and a huge undertaking. It's possible that Tony voters have seen fit to reward Mr. Warchus simply for being the captain of a very large, splashy, and audience satisfying ship. I'm putting the odds slightly in Ms. Paulus' favor.

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

A Christmas Story, The Musical

Music and Lyrics: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Hands on a Hardbody

Music: Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green
Lyrics: Amanda Green

Kinky Boots

Music & Lyrics: Cyndi Lauper

Matilda The Musical

Music & Lyrics: Tim Minchin 

People are calling this a two horse race between Kinky Boots and Matilda (as they are most of the categories in which they share a nomination). I personally prefer the score to Kinky Boots. Truthfully, if I had to choose, I'd actually give it to Hands on a Hardbody but that shows award is it's nomination. Matilda is likely to best Kinky Boots in this category even though Kinky Boots has a more hummable and memorable score.

Best Book of a Musical

A Christmas Story, The Musical

Joseph Robinette

Kinky Boots

Harvey Fierstein

Matilda The Musical

Dennis Kelly

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Douglas Carter Beane

In my opinion Douglas Carter Beane's new book for Cinderella is the best reworking of a Rodgers and Hammerstein book that has ever been done on Broadway. Usually when they "rework" one of these books they end up adding more problems than the fixed. Matilda is based on beloved source material, and it's unlikely that it will not win this award.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Carrie Coon, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Shalita Grant, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Judith Ivey, The Heiress
Judith Light, The Assembled Parties
Condola Rashad, The Trip to Bountiful

It's very likely that Judith Light will win back to back Tony awards for her performance in The Assembled Parties. It's a very high profile performance with a lot of buzz around it. I'd rather seen the Tony go to Condola Rashad for her fantastic turn in The Trip to Bountiful.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Danny Burstein, Golden Boy
Richard Kind, The Big Knife
Billy Magnussen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tony Shalhoub, Golden Boy
Courtney B. Vance, Lucky Guy

Richard Kind has won other awards for this performance and he's likely to walk away with the Tony as well. He is admittedly wonderful in a roll that is not usually the type he gets to play in The Big Knife. I'd give the award to Tony Shaloub for his understated and heart breaking turn in the other Odetts revival of the season, Golden Boy.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Charl Brown, Motown The Musical
Keith Carradine, Hands on a Hardbody
Will Chase, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Gabriel Ebert, Matilda The Musical
Terrence Mann, Pippin

Most people are saying that this is a toss up between Gabriel Ebert and Terrance Mann. While I think the Tony will ultimately go home with Gabriel Ebert for Matilda, it should go home with the wonderful Will Chase for his turn in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. This was a wonderful and satisfying revival that was beloved by critics, but didn't seem to catch on with audiences, most likely because it didn't contain any stars.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Annaleigh Ashford, Kinky Boots
Victoria Clark, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Andrea Martin, Pippin
Keala Settle, Hands on a Hardbody
Lauren Ward, Matilda The Musical

It will be a complete and utter shock if Andrea Martin does not win this award. This woman is giving a life changing performance in what is usually a throw away moment of Pippin. That's not to say that audiences don't always enjoy the scene and song, but this is something altogether different. Her only competition is Annaleigh Ashford for kinky Boots, who in any other year would be deserving of taking home the gold.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place
Amy Morton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Kristine Nielsen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Holland Taylor, Ann
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful

This was one of the hardest categories to choose this year. There were so many fantastic female performances in plays this year. It's the strongest category of the night to be sure. Laurie Metcalf broke my heart into tiny little pieces in The other place. She not only broke it, she obliterated it. Cicely Tyson is returning to Broadway for the first time in 30+ years and she's in her 80's. I'll be shocked if she doesn't win. Though if she DOES lose, it will probably be to Kristine Nielsen for Vanya.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Tom Hanks, Lucky Guy
Nathan Lane, The Nance
Tracy Letts, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
David Hyde Pierce, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tom Sturridge, Orphans

That's right I picked two Should wins. That's because I can't choose between the two of them! It doesn't matter though because Tom Hanks is America's favorite actor and there is no way that he is not going to win for Best Actor even though there are at least two others in the category that deserve it more.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Bertie Carvel, Matilda The Musical
Santino Fontana, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Rob McClure, Chaplin
Billy Porter, Kinky Boots
Stark Sands, Kinky Boots

Everyone is talking about Billy Porter in Kinky Boots. This is one of the weakest categories this year, and the weakest performance category for certain. The only real competition is between Billy Porter and Bertie Carvel, dueling drag performances. Billy Porter brings down the house as Lola, and deserves to bring home the Tony.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Stephanie J. Block, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Carolee Carmello, Scandalous
Valisia LeKae, Motown The Musical
Patina Miller, Pippin
Laura Osnes, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

I love Laura Osnes. She is wonderful in Cinderella, but Patina Miller sings wile hula hooping for goodness sake! Not only that, but she brings something new to a character that is synonymous with the man who created it, and not just breasts. 

Best Revival of a Play

Golden Boy

Producers:  Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten

Orphans

Producers:  Frederick Zollo, Robert Cole, The Shubert Organization, Orin Wolf, Lucky VIII, Scott M. Delman, James P. MacGilvray, StylesFour Productions

The Trip to Bountiful

Producers:  Nelle Nugent, Kevin Liles, Paula Marie Black, David R. Weinreb, Stephen C. Byrd, Alia M. Jones, Kenneth Teaton, Carole L. Haber/Philip Geier, Wendy Federman/Carl Moellenberg/Ricardo Hornos, Fifty Church Street Productions/Hallie Foote/Tyson and Kimberly Chandler, Joseph Sirola, Howard and Janet Kagan/Charles Salameno, Sharon A. Carr/Patricia R. Klausner, Raymond Gaspard/Andréa M. Price, Willette Murphy Klausner/Reginald M. Browne

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Producers:  Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Susan Quint Gallin, Mary Lu Roffe, Kit Seidel, Amy Danis & Mark Johannes, Patty Baker, Mark S. Golub & David S. Golub, Richard Gross, Jam Theatricals, Cheryl Lachowicz, Michael Palitz, Dramatic Forces/Angelina Fiordellisi, Luigi & Rose Caiola, Ken Greiner, Kathleen K. Johnson, Kirmser Ponturo Fund, Will Trice, GFour Productions, Steppenwolf Theatre Company 

To be honest, I think both revivals are deserving of the win, and as long as one of them wins I wont be upset. It really was difficult to choose. I only gave the should win to Golden Boy because it's so rare to see a revival of this play, and it'll only be another ten years until we see another George and Martha on Broadway.

Best Revival of a Musical

Annie

Producers:  Arielle Tepper Madover, Roger Horchow, Sally Horchow, Roger Berlind, Roy Furman, Debbie Bisno, Stacey Mindich, James M. Nederlander, Jane Bergère/Daryl Roth, Eva Price/Christina Papagjika

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Producers:  Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy

Pippin

Producers:  Barry and Fran Weissler, Howard and Janet Kagan, Lisa Matlin, Kyodo Tokyo, A&A Gordon/Brunish Trinchero, Tom Smedes/Peter Stern, Broadway Across America, Independent Presenters Network, Norton Herrick, Allen Spivak, Rebecca Gold, Joshua Goodman, Stephen E. McManus, David Robbins/Bryan S. Weingarten, Philip Hagemann/Murray Rosenthal, Jim Kierstead/Carlos Arana/Myla Lerner, Hugh Hayes/Jamie Cesa/Jonathan Reinis, Sharon A. Carr/Patricia R. Klausner, Ben Feldman, Square 1 Theatrics, Wendy Federman/Carl Moellenberg, Bruce Robert Harris/Jack W. Batman, Infinity Theatre Company/Michael Rubenstein, Michael A. Alden/Dale Badway/Ken Mahoney, American Repertory Theater

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Producers:  Robyn Goodman, Jill Furman, Stephen Kocis, Edward Walson, Venetian Glass Productions, The Araca Group, Luigi Caiola & Rose Caiola, Roy Furman, Walt Grossman, Peter May/Sanford Robertson, Glass Slipper Productions LLC/Eric Schmidt, Ted Liebowitz/James Spry, Blanket Fort Productions, Center Theatre Group 

I absolutely loved the revival of Drood and I saw it twice. I would have seen it a third time if I'd not been out of town the entire month before it closed. That being said, the current revival of Pippin is something completely extraordinary. It's beyond words. Every aspect of the production is exactly what a revival should be, a re-examining of the original work.

Best Play

The Assembled Parties

Author:  Richard Greenberg

Producers:  Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove

Lucky Guy

Author:  Nora Ephron

Producers:  Colin Callender, Roy Furman, Arielle Tepper Madover, Roger & William Berlind, Stacey Mindich, Robert Cole & Frederick Zollo, David Mirvish, Daryl Roth, James D. Stern/Douglas L. Meyer, Scott & Brian Zeilinger, Sonia Friedman Productions, The Shubert Organization

The Testament of Mary

Author:  Colm Toíbín

Producers:  Scott Rudin, Stuart Thompson, Jon B. Platt, Roger Berlind, Broadway Across America, Scott M. Delman, Jean Doumanian, Roy Furman, Stephanie P. McClelland, Sonia Friedman Productions/Tulchin Bartner Productions, The Araca Group, Heni Koenigsberg, Daryl Roth, Eli Bush

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Author:  Christopher Durang

Producers:  Joey Parnes, Larry Hirschhorn, Joan Raffe & Jhett Tolentino, Martin Platt & David Elliott, Pat Flicker Addiss, Catherine Adler, John O’Boyle, Joshua Goodman, Jamie deRoy/Richard Winkler, Cricket Hooper Jiranek/Michael Palitz, Mark S. Golub & David S. Golub, Radio Mouse Entertainment, ShadowCatcher Entertainment, Mary Cossette/Barbara Manocherian, Megan Savage/Meredith Lynsey Schade, Hugh Hysell/Richard Jordan, Cheryl Wiesenfeld/Ron Simons, S.D. Wagner, John Johnson, McCarter Theatre Center, Lincoln Center Theater 

The show that I really would have liked to pick was not nominated, and that would be Sharr Whites gripping drama The Other Place. However, of the choices available it's almost a lock for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.

Best Musical

Bring It On: The Musical

Producers:  Universal Pictures Stage Productions/Glenn Ross, Beacon Communications/Armyan Bernstein & Charlie Lyons, Kristin Caskey & Mike Isaacson

A Christmas Story, The Musical

Producers:  Gerald Goehring, Roy Miller, Michael F. Mitri, Pat Flicker Addiss, Peter Billingsley, Timothy Laczynski, Mariano Tolentino, Jr., Louise H. Beard, Michael Filerman, Scott Hart, Alison Eckert, Bob Bartner, Michael Jenkins, Angela Milonas, Bradford W. Smith

Kinky Boots

Producers:  Daryl Roth, Hal Luftig, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Independent Presenters Network, CJ E&M, Jayne Baron Sherman, Just for Laughs Theatricals/Judith Ann Abrams, Yasuhiro Kawana, Jane Bergère, Allan S. Gordon & Adam S. Gordon, Ken Davenport, Hunter Arnold, Lucy & Phil Suarez, Bryan Bantry, Ron Fierstein & Dorsey Regal, Jim Kierstead/Gregory Rae, BB Group/Christina Papagjika, Michael DeSantis/Patrick Baugh, Brian Smith/Tom & Connie Walsh, Warren Trepp, Jujamcyn Theaters

Matilda The Musical

Producers:  The Royal Shakespeare Company and The Dodgers 

Matilda  is the big hit musical of the year and it's very unlikely that Kinky Boots will be able to best the prestige that comes along with coming from London and being produced by The Royal Shakespeare Company. That's not to say that Matilda doesn't deserve to win, but - Kinky Boots is a bigger theatrical feat, despite all of Matilda's stage effects.

And there you have it folks! Those are my picks! Tune in to the 2013 Tony Awards at 8pm on your local CBS station to see if I'm correct!

The Testament of Mary

    It has been quite a few weeks since I saw The Testament of Mary in fact, it's been almost a full month. I feel as though I'm better equipped to write about it now than I was when I first saw the play. This is rare piece of theater that requires a time to think about what you've seen and heard before you can really make your mind up about it.

    This may be one of the reasons why The Testament of Mary closed on the same day that it received a Tony nomination for best play (it's only nomination). Seeing as it's a one woman show, one would think that the woman who plays Mary, the mother of Jesus, would have also gotten a nomination, but she didn't.

    It's difficult to discuss the topic of the play, because it's very controversial. Though, in a sense, it's not. It tells the events of Jesus' life through the eyes of a mother. A mother wants nothing more than to protect her children, to shield them from those who would do them harm. A mother wants her children to lead long and happy lives.

   Colm Toibin, who has written the play and the novel that it is based on, has set the action in present day, which is a tad confusing. When you walk into the theater - you are greeted with an open stage that has many loose objects on it. A ladder, a real live falcon, a pool of water, a table, chairs, and sitting off center, Fiona Shaw (Mary) dressed as Mary might appear in a Pieta, or a stained glass at a Catholic Church. She is in a glass box, and surrounded by dozens of lit candles. Audience members are invited up onto the state before they take their seats to examine the scene before them. They are even allowed to take pictures.

   Here is one such picture if you'd like to take a look.

http://www.nyc-arts.org/events/48988/the-testament-of-mary

   Five minutes before the play is to begin, audience members are asked to take their seats. The Glass box flies out, the candles and falcon are removed, and the stage is now the home that Mary now lives in. For the next nearly two hours, we are told her side of the story in a way that we never have been before.

   Fiona Shaw is a formidable actress. She has superb material to work with. The first problem with the play is the theater. The Walter Kerr seats a little over 1,000 people. For such a small, intimate story the audiences feels slightly disconnected from what is happening on stage in a way that they should not. The play would have been suited in a much smaller venue. The Booth, The Hayes, or Circle in the square are the only suitable Broadway houses for this type of production.

   The second problem is the direction. Rather than letting Fiona Shaw just act and say her lines, Deborah Warner has given her endless amounts of stage business to do. Washing, wood working, chopping, making snacks, it's exhausting to watch! Not to mention the endless amounts of symbolism that make very little sense practically. The text is sometimes lost because the stage action is so frenetic.

    This is the first time this play has been produced anywhere. No doubt that it will resurface regionally, or perhaps in London, and be better the next time around. This production lacked focus. The set and costumes were drab in a way that brought the show down.

    The text is wonderful however, and well worth reading if you have the time. If you were brought up with religion, or enjoy the study of religious iconography and belief structure than you will probably find it immensely interesting. Some might find it offensive, because of the way that it depicts the very tenets of Christianity, but it certainly will give you something to think about.