this week in theater

DEATH OF A SALESMAN

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Linda Emond hope for better days in DEATH OF A SALESMAN (photo by Brigitte Lacombe)

Ethel Barrymore Theatre
243 West 47th St.
February 13 – June 2
deathofasalesmanbroadway.com

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman stakes its claim once again as the Great American Play in Mike Nichols’s poignant new version, running at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre through June 2. Winner of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize, Death of a Salesman is about nothing less than the death of the American dream. Willy Loman (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a traveling salesman who has just returned to his New York City home after an aborted attempt at a sales trip to New England. A sixty-three-year-old man who has worked for the same company for thirty-six years, Loman has been beaten down, left out of the booming post-WWII economy and lagging behind changing times. He is consoled by his gentle, stalwart wife, Linda (Linda Emond), who reminds him that both of his grown sons are back in their room upstairs, sleeping soundly. The older Biff (Andrew Garfield) has yet to find himself, having recently spent time on a farm in Texas despite grand hopes, while the younger Hap (Finn Wittrock) is a ladies’ man with big dreams of going into business with his brother. Over the course of a single day, the Lomans are forced to face some hard, cold truths about themselves and their uncertain future. Hoffman is magnificent as Loman, his barren eyes haunted by his lack of success, his body hunched over, dragging around a briefcase filled with meaningless items he has been hawking for decades — items that are never specified, because it doesn’t matter; they could be anything. All he wants is to be able to complete the payments on an appliance before it breaks, to have at least one of his sons make something of his life, to own something of value. Willy is overwhelmed by flashbacks and memories that remind him of what could have been, drifting in and out of conversations with his brother Ben (John Glover), an adventurer who struck it rich in Alaska, and with a younger Biff as he prepares for the football game that will likely earn him a college scholarship.

Father and son search for common ground in Miller masterpiece (photo by Brigitte Lacombe)

Hoffman — who played a theater director staging a unique version of Death of a Salesman in Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York — is not made up to look much older than he actually is, yet he embodies the wear and tear that has ravaged Loman’s body, mind, and spirit. At forty-four, Hoffman is not the youngest actor to take on the iconic role; Loman originator Lee J. Cobb was a mere thirty-seven, while Dustin Hoffman was forty-six, George C. Scott forty-seven, Brian Dennehy sixty, and Fredric March fifty-three in the 1951 film. But Hoffman plays old marvelously, his Loman an everyman for whom age is not the central problem. Nichols has brought back Death of a Salesman at a critical juncture in American history, when the separation between the haves and the have-nots keeps widening amid mortgage failures and bank bailouts, ripping an ever-widening hole in the fabric of the nation. But Hoffman’s Loman (low man) is no mere victim seeking sympathy; he has been complicit in his family’s downfall, making bad choices that has thwarted them every step of the way. Filled with complexity, depth, and sparkling dialogue, Miller’s masterpiece feels as fresh and relevant as ever.

VENUS IN FUR

Nina Arianda and Hugh Dancy are electrifying in David Ives’s VENUS IN FUR (photo by Joan Marcus)

Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45ht St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Through June 17, $76.50- $141.50
www.venusinfurbroadway.com

“Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather / Whiplash girlchild in the dark / Severin, your servant, comes in bells, please don’t forsake him / Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart,” Lou Reed sang on the Velvet Underground’s 1967 S&M classic, “Venus in Furs.” The song was inspired by the 1870 novella of the same name by Austrian writer Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, which also serves as the basis for David Ives’s wickedly funny play, Venus in Fur. Following its recent run at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, the sizzling-hot two-character Manhattan Theatre Club production is back on Broadway, thrilling audiences at the Lyceum through June 17. In a small New York basement studio, Thomas (British actor Hugh Dancy) has just finished auditioning actors for his next play, Venus in Fur, when Vanda (breakout star Nina Arianda) suddenly storms into his life, a whirlwind of crazy energy who has come to try out for the role of Wanda von Dunajew in Thomas’s theatrical adaptation of Sacher-Masoch’s story-within-a-story about gender, sexuality, and degradation. Thomas tries to get rid of Vanda, but the two of them are soon reading the play, with Ives cleverly creating a developing story-within-a-story of his own as Thomas and Vanda start mimicking what is going on between Wanda and Severin von Kusiemski. What begins as a classic battle of the sexes turns into so much more as they seductively fight over power and dominance. Tony nominee Arianda (Born Yesterday) is a marvel as Vanda, effortlessly going back and forth between the nasal-voiced wacky ingénue and the strong, defiant characters she is portraying. Dancy, in a role originally performed by Wes Bentley in the show’s January 2010 Classic Stage Company debut, does an excellent job of keeping up with Arianda’s boundless energy as he plays both Thomas and the subservient Severin. Anita Yavich’s costumes are sensational, with Vanda continually reaching into her bag of tricks, pulling out erotically charged items, including to-die-for thigh-high leather boots. With Vanda and Thomas continually fighting over where to stand as they read the play-within-a-play, it is easy to forget that the show is actually directed by Walter Bobbie (Chicago, Footloose), who seamlessly weaves everything together. Venus in Fur is a breathless, electrifying drama that should not be forsaken; you’d have to be a masochist not to see it.

SHATNER’S WORLD: WE JUST LIVE IN IT…

William Shatner welcomes audiences into his world in Broadway one-man show

Music Box Theatre
239 West 45th St. between Broadway & Eighth Aves.
Through March 4, $61.50 – $126.50 (VIP $251.50 with meet & greet)
www.shatnersworld.com

Canadian actor and pitchman extraordinaire William Shatner, who has been entertaining audiences for more than sixty years in his own rather unique style, discusses his life and nearly inexplicable career in the fun one-man show Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It . . . The stout octogenarian, who turns eighty-one on March 22, ambles about the stage at the Music Box Theatre for nearly two hours showing vintage clips and photographs and telling anecdotes from his glorious past, from understudying for Christopher Plummer in Tyrone Guthrie’s production of Henry V at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada to doing live television with Lon Chaney Jr. in the 1950s to starring on Broadway in 1959 in The World of Suzie Wong with France Nuyen. He also talks about this sci-fi thing called Star Trek, playing Denny Crane on Boston Legal, and his unexpected golden-throated recording career. (The night we went, he was joined onstage for a special encore with Brad Paisley, who wrote the song “Real” for Shatner’s 2007 album, Has Been.) He shares tales of his mother and father, drops in mentions of his wives and daughter, and tears up when discussing his beloved stallion. Just as Shatner roams around the stage, his tales roam as well, going back and forth through time, often with only the thinnest of threads linking them together. While there are many touching and revealing moments, especially if you haven’t read any of his books, there are also plenty that fall flat and feel forced. Curiously, the Playbill includes no credit for the writing of the show, which is not surprising. Shatner also can’t seem to make up his mind whether he wants to sit down on the rolling chair at the center of the stage, continually sitting and standing in a sometimes awkward manner. But hey, those are just minor tribbles, er, quibbles, for indeed, this is Shatner’s world, and we just live in it. There has never been a performer quite like William Shatner, and likely never will be another; throughout his robust career, his signature pauses, intoxicating smile, sheer confidence, and innate ability to laugh at himself have made us forget about his shortcomings. A must-see for Shatner fans, Shatner’s World continues at the Music Box through March 4 before heading out on a U.S. tour.

SEMINAR

Wannabe writers get a whole lot more than they bargained for in SEMINAR

Golden Theatre
252 West 45th St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
Starring Alan Rickman through April 1, followed by Jeff Goldblum starting April 3, $51.50 – $121.50
www.seminaronbroadway.com

Inspired by her three years writing for David Milch on NYPD Blue, Theresa Rebeck’s Seminar is a solidly entertaining, very funny examination of competition and the creative process. Kate (Lily Rabe), Martin (Hamish Linklater), Douglas (Jerry O’Connell), and Izzy (Hettienne Park) are members of a private writing class led by the rather acerbic Leonard (Alan Rickman), a famous novelist and editor who charges the eager would-be writers five grand a piece for his services. Held in Kate’s family’s ritzy Upper West Side apartment, each class session consists of Leonard’s critique of a different student’s work. Desperate for his approval, they find out quickly that their story — as well as their life — is more likely to be shredded apart by the cynical Leonard, who rambles on about his travels to war-torn nations while debasing three of the writers; he has only kind things to say about Izzy, turned on by her erotically charged writing and sexy demeanor.

Alan Rickman will continue dishing out biting literary criticism on Broadway through April 1

Although the plot features few surprises, the dialogue by the prolific Park Slope-based Rebeck — she’s written numerous plays, several novels and screenplays, and is the creator and executive producer of the new television series Smash — is sharp and incisive, alternating between biting and laugh-out-loud funny. The part of Leonard seems tailor made for Rickman, who revels in the character’s love of language; just when it seems that Rickman is drifting off a bit, he charges back with a quiet fury that dominates the stage. The supporting cast, featuring O’Connell (Stand by Me, Jerry Maguire), Shakespearean regular Linklater (The New Adventures of Old Christine), and Park (The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures) making their Broadway debuts alongside Tony nominee Rabe (The Merchant of Venice), is strong throughout, each actor adding just the right nuance to avoid becoming caricatures. Although most of Seminar takes place in a single room, director Sam Gold gives it a swift vitality, a strength he also displays in the current production of Look Back in Anger at the Roundabout. As a bonus, the night we saw Seminar, Jeff Goldblum, who replaces Rickman in the role of Leonard on April 3, was sitting nearby, apparently seeing the show for the first time. He leaned forward through most of the ninety-five minutes, his mouth hanging open, his eyes darting from character to character, following every movement with an extended hand, studying the play almost as if he were a student preparing for the most important class of his life.

LOOK BACK IN ANGER

Cliff (Adam Driver), Alison (Sarah Goldberg), and Jimmy (Matthew Rhys) are rather intimate roommates in Roundabout revival (photo by Joan Marcus)

Roundabout at Laura Pels Theatre
Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre
111 West 46th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Through April 8, $71-$81
212-719-1300
www.roundabouttheatre.org

In 1956, John Osborne’s autobiographical Look Back in Anger exploded onto the British theater scene, taking the familiar English drawing-room comedy and turning it inside out and upside down, railing about class warfare, politics, sex, family, and social structure in a less-than-polite manner. It was written by an angry young man, Osborne, about an angry young man, Jimmy Porter, who spewed venom at every opportunity. The original stage production moved to Broadway in 1957, where it was nominated for a Tony for Best Play, and the next year it hit the big screen with Richard Burton playing Jimmy; all three versions were directed by Tony Richardson, who went on to make such highly regarded films as The Entertainer (cowritten by Osborne), Tom Jones, and The Border. (A 1989 television movie directed by Judi Dench starred Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson.) Upon being named associate artist at the Roundabout, director Sam Gold (Seminar, August: Osage County) decided that his first production would be an updated version of the controversial drama, which makes an immediate impact via Andrew Lieberman’s powerful set, which transforms the Laura Pels Theatre into an intimate black box, with the stage a long, narrow horizontal platform only several feet deep, backed by a floor-to-ceiling black wall. Strewn about the stage are empty cans, half-eaten bites of food, and ragged clothing. When the cast enters, they’re nearly sitting on the audience’s lap; Gold leaves the lights on at first, as if everyone is inside this fleabag attic apartment. As Jimmy (Matthew Rhys) and his best friend, Cliff (Adam Driver), read the papers, argue, and wrestle, Jimmy’s wife, Alison (Sarah Goldberg), is busy at an ironing board, her shirt open to reveal her bra as if it’s no big deal. At the start, it’s hard to tell which of the men, if not both, is with Alison; while Jimmy goes on and on about British society, Cliff lays a flurry of kisses on Alison, who happily accepts them. But it soon becomes apparent that the loud, ranting Jimmy and the sweetly innocent, well-born Alison are indeed husband and wife, although perhaps not for long if Jimmy cannot control his nasty temper. And when Alison’s friend Helena (Charlotte Parry) arrives, she drives a wedge between the married couple that sets up a heated second act.

Alison and Jimmy share a rare quiet moment in LOOK BACK IN ANGER (photo by Joan Marcus)

Making his New York theater debut, the Welsh Rhys is a commanding force onstage, searing with electric energy while hiding a subtle vulnerability looming just beneath his angry veneer. The play has lost some of its punch over the years; the original’s attack on British society is much tamer and too general in a world all too familiar with such public criticism. Gold’s direction overcomes many of those flaws, adding a suprising intimacy; when Jimmy and Cliff fight, it feels like they could fall off the stage at any moment. And the night we saw the show, when Jimmy slams a drawer against the back wall, one of the resulting pieces of broken wood nearly struck a man sitting in the first row. Gold has also eliminated one of the main characters, Colonel Redfern, which turns out to be a wise decision, as he’s not missed at all. But this is Rhys’s show all the way; his Jimmy is a compelling character who initially does not elicit sympathy for all his mean-spirited mad ramblings, but by the end it is clear why Alison, Cliff, and Helena are so drawn to him, as you will be too. Look Back in Anger might not be quite as angry as it once was, but it is still well worth a look back in this strong, fiery production.

WIT

Cynthia Nixon gives a remarkably uplifting performance as a terminal cancer patient in Broadway premiere of WIT (photo by Joan Marcus)

Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th St. between Broadway & Eighth Aves.
Through March 11, $57-$121
witonbroadway.com

It might at first seem odd that a play about a stern forty-eight-year-old teacher obsessed with the Holy Sonnets of John Donne and dying of stage IV metastatic ovarian cancer is called Wit. But as it turns out, kindergarten teacher Margaret Edson’s only play, which was written in 1991, was first performed in 1995, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1999, and is now making its Broadway debut in a marvelous Manhattan Theatre Club production at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, is extremely funny, as well as being emotionally involving and exceedingly intelligent. Tony and Emmy winner Cynthia Nixon beautifully embodies Dr. Vivian Bearing, an English professor who has agreed to participate in an experimental cancer program at a university teaching hospital. The gaunt woman, wearing a hospital gown, a red baseball cap, and white socks, begins the play by directly addressing the audience, explaining that she is in fact a character in a play in which people should not necessarily expect a happy ending. For the next one hundred minutes, Bearing goes through several medical examinations — which harken back to tests she gave her classes — regularly interrupting the action to talk to the audience, mixing an appealing irony and sarcasm into her very serious condition, which she describes as “insidious cancer with pernicious side effects.” Bearing is a fascinating, complex character, whether debating the punctuation of Donne’s “Death Be Not Proud” (“And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die”) with her mentor, professor E. M. Ashford (Suzanne Bertish), discussing her options with nurse Susie Monahan (Cara Patterson), or dealing with young clinical fellow Dr. Jason Posner (Greg Keller), who has a lot to learn about bedside manner. Nixon is magnificent as Bearing, a role previously played onstage by Kathleen Chalfant and in an HBO movie by Emma Thompson; for all her eccentricities, Bearing should not be a sympathetic character, but Nixon turns the lonely, snarky woman, who has no real friends or family, into a delightful character who is not afraid to look death in the face. MTC artistic director Lynne Meadow guides the production with a steady, at times gleeful hand, with scenes cleverly changing via a revolving wall in the center of the stage. Nixon and Meadow, who are both breast cancer survivors, do a wonderful job of not allowing any overwrought melodrama to seep into Edson’s carefully composed, tightly constructed play, resulting in a mesmerizing exploration and even celebration of life, death, poetry, and the theater itself.

RUSSIAN TRANSPORT

RUSSIAN TRANSPORT explores the immigrant experience of a wacky family in Brooklyn (photo by Monique Carboni)

The Acorn Theatre at Theatre Row
410 West 42nd St. between Ninth & Tenth Aves.
January 30 through March 24, $61.25
212-560-2183
www.thenewgroup.org
www.theatrerow.org

When her grown-up baby brother, Boris (Morgan Spector), finally immigrates to America from his native Russia, Diana (Janeane Garofalo) can’t be happier. The mother of two teenagers, eighteen-year-old Alex (Raviv Ullman) and fourteen-year-old Mira (Sarah Steele), and wife to Misha (Daniel Oreskes), Diana kicks Mira to an air mattress on the living-room floor, giving her daughter’s upstairs bedroom to Boris, who, she says, “makes the girls pregnant only from looking. Always, he is like this.” It quickly turns out that Boris Fodorovsky is not quite the innocent, fresh-off-the-boat émigré he first appears to be, bringing mystery and danger to the family’s wacky Sheepshead Bay home. In fact, everyone has secrets they’re hiding in Erika Sheffer’s delightful off-Broadway debut, Russian Transport, which is having its world premiere at the Acorn Theatre at Theatre Row in a New Group production directed by Scott Elliott. Garofalo, in her first major dramatic theatrical role, does a fine job as the foul-mouthed matriarch, seamlessly going back and forth between English and Russian as she takes care of Mira, who is just discovering boys and wants to spend the summer in Europe; Alex, who is not exactly the mobile-phone salesman he claims to be; and big and burly Misha, who runs a car service from a small office connected to the house. Insults and jokes in two languages fly fast and furious on Derek McLane’s bilevel stage, but things get serious in a hurry when Alex and Mira discover some unsavory things about their uncle Boris. The acting is uniformly solid in this involving exploration of the immigrant experience, which unfolds in Russian Transport like the matryoshka dolls that Mira collects.