The PrideWritten by Alexi Kaye Cambell
Directed by Joe Mantello
When: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 2pm
Where: Louise Lortel Theatre
What: Drama, Off-Broadway
"Hey. Do you wanna go see this play with really cheap tickets that stars two British guys that I'm sure you've heard of?"
"Sure, I'll go."
"Yeah, I have no idea what the play's about, but the tickets are only $20, so let's go."
That was essentially the conversation that occurred between myself and a friend prior to deciding to head up to NYC to see this Off-Broadway show. After a bit of research (of course, after the tickets were purchased), I discovered that the play was a look at gay relationships in the 1950s and the aughts. I'm not gonna lie (and if this makes me a bad person, so be it), I was a little uncomfortable going into this one. It probably didn't help that sitting down in the theater, I was definitely in the minority in terms of sexual orientation (the leather sex shop next to the theater and the gay pride flag I saw coming out of the subway were a big clue).
But, once the play started, I was completely drawn into the rather interesting premise. The Pride essentially tells two different stories in two different time periods with two different sets of characters who happen to have the same name in both stories. In the 1950s, Philip (Hugh Dancy) and Sylvia (Andrea Riseborough) are a married couple. Sylvia is a failed actress who has turned to illustrating children's books and Oliver (Ben Whishaw) is her employer. Oliver comes over to the couple's home one evening and there's immediately an odd connection between the two men -- a connection that Philip wants to ignore but is intrigued by. While it's not even stated that Oliver is gay, his dialogues hoping for an age of equality allow the audience to infer such a thing.
Suddenly, and initially rather awkwardly, the play jumps to the present time in which Oliver (a different Oliver than in the 1950s setting) and Philip have recently broken up. Oliver can't seem to control his sexual urges, promiscuously cheating on Philip with unknown men. As the aughts setting opens, Oliver and Philip's relationship is kaput and mutual friend, Sylvia, a somewhat successful actress, tries to help each of them through their difficult time.
In the end, I'm not 100% sure what message the play is trying to get across other than the fact that times have changed. Whereas homosexuality was veiled in the 1950s, it's more "out in the open" today. That's not exactly a life changing revelation there. That being said, the time bouncing and unique use of the same character names allows us to really see a compare/contrast quality that playwright Alexi Kaye Campbell is putting on display.
By far, what makes this play shine is the great acting. Of the two main male characters, Ben Whishaw comes off a little better simply because his two Olivers are really two completely different people. He gets to play both the shy, timid type and the aggressive one. I liked Whishaw quite a bit in this year's Bright Star (had him on my Best Actor list for a while) and he was enthralling in this. Hugh Dancy (perhaps the better known of the two actors) was perfectly fine and it's not as if he was upstaged by Whishaw in the acting department, it's just that his Philips are a little underdeveloped in comparison.
The star of the show, however, was the lovely Andrea Riseborough (who, at times, was a spitting image of Kate Winslet). Her 1950s Sylvia has more emotional oomph -- there is a scene in which she discovers her husband's infidelity and confronts Oliver that was heartwrenching. Her 2000s Sylvia doesn't quite have the same impact, but she's the epitome of fun and provided quite a few laughs. I don't know who this lady is, but she was great to watch.
The play actually contains one more actor -- Adam James -- who plays three different distinct characters -- The Man (who, let's just say, has a thing for S&M), Peter (a straight editor of a men's magazine), and The Doctor (whose purpose is a little bit of a spoiler so I won't mention it here). He creates three distinct personalities for each of these characters, and actually provides quite an emotional moment when, as Peter, he reminisces about his late gay uncle.
Suffice it to say, The Pride is buoyed by four great actors. And considering that this is playwright Campbell's first play, there's definitely some promise on display. While it's doesn't quite work completely and, in the end, seems a little too obvious in terms of what it's trying to say, it works nonetheless and was worth the "uncomfortableness" to see my first Off-Broadway play.
"Sure, I'll go."
"Yeah, I have no idea what the play's about, but the tickets are only $20, so let's go."
That was essentially the conversation that occurred between myself and a friend prior to deciding to head up to NYC to see this Off-Broadway show. After a bit of research (of course, after the tickets were purchased), I discovered that the play was a look at gay relationships in the 1950s and the aughts. I'm not gonna lie (and if this makes me a bad person, so be it), I was a little uncomfortable going into this one. It probably didn't help that sitting down in the theater, I was definitely in the minority in terms of sexual orientation (the leather sex shop next to the theater and the gay pride flag I saw coming out of the subway were a big clue).
But, once the play started, I was completely drawn into the rather interesting premise. The Pride essentially tells two different stories in two different time periods with two different sets of characters who happen to have the same name in both stories. In the 1950s, Philip (Hugh Dancy) and Sylvia (Andrea Riseborough) are a married couple. Sylvia is a failed actress who has turned to illustrating children's books and Oliver (Ben Whishaw) is her employer. Oliver comes over to the couple's home one evening and there's immediately an odd connection between the two men -- a connection that Philip wants to ignore but is intrigued by. While it's not even stated that Oliver is gay, his dialogues hoping for an age of equality allow the audience to infer such a thing.
Suddenly, and initially rather awkwardly, the play jumps to the present time in which Oliver (a different Oliver than in the 1950s setting) and Philip have recently broken up. Oliver can't seem to control his sexual urges, promiscuously cheating on Philip with unknown men. As the aughts setting opens, Oliver and Philip's relationship is kaput and mutual friend, Sylvia, a somewhat successful actress, tries to help each of them through their difficult time.
In the end, I'm not 100% sure what message the play is trying to get across other than the fact that times have changed. Whereas homosexuality was veiled in the 1950s, it's more "out in the open" today. That's not exactly a life changing revelation there. That being said, the time bouncing and unique use of the same character names allows us to really see a compare/contrast quality that playwright Alexi Kaye Campbell is putting on display.
By far, what makes this play shine is the great acting. Of the two main male characters, Ben Whishaw comes off a little better simply because his two Olivers are really two completely different people. He gets to play both the shy, timid type and the aggressive one. I liked Whishaw quite a bit in this year's Bright Star (had him on my Best Actor list for a while) and he was enthralling in this. Hugh Dancy (perhaps the better known of the two actors) was perfectly fine and it's not as if he was upstaged by Whishaw in the acting department, it's just that his Philips are a little underdeveloped in comparison.
The star of the show, however, was the lovely Andrea Riseborough (who, at times, was a spitting image of Kate Winslet). Her 1950s Sylvia has more emotional oomph -- there is a scene in which she discovers her husband's infidelity and confronts Oliver that was heartwrenching. Her 2000s Sylvia doesn't quite have the same impact, but she's the epitome of fun and provided quite a few laughs. I don't know who this lady is, but she was great to watch.
The play actually contains one more actor -- Adam James -- who plays three different distinct characters -- The Man (who, let's just say, has a thing for S&M), Peter (a straight editor of a men's magazine), and The Doctor (whose purpose is a little bit of a spoiler so I won't mention it here). He creates three distinct personalities for each of these characters, and actually provides quite an emotional moment when, as Peter, he reminisces about his late gay uncle.
Suffice it to say, The Pride is buoyed by four great actors. And considering that this is playwright Campbell's first play, there's definitely some promise on display. While it's doesn't quite work completely and, in the end, seems a little too obvious in terms of what it's trying to say, it works nonetheless and was worth the "uncomfortableness" to see my first Off-Broadway play.
If I'm in NY again before this ends, I'm seeing it once more. I think it was worth more than $20.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm in NY again before this ends, I'm seeing it once more. I think it was worth more than $20.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm in NY again before this ends, I'm seeing it once more. I think it was worth more than $20.
ReplyDeleteAaah. That's what happens when one tries to use technology, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the realization (read:disappointment) you'll have of only two messages after getting notifications for four.
I was utterly shocked to see the four posts sent to me via e-mail and I was certain that they were spam for some porno sites (for some reason, one popped up in my Avatar review of all things a few days ago).
ReplyDeleteI think it's closing pretty soon...sometime this month maybe?
The more I think about it, the more impressed I actually am/was with it. The girl was pretty great -- and I'm still quite moved by that scene in the 60s where she confronts the husband's lover.