The New York Theater Workshop has done several plays based on other works. Now it is Hemingway's turn. This is the story of Jake who can't perform sexually (war injury--never spelled out) and Lady Brett who loves him but has sex with other men and the drinking and the drinking and the drinking they all do and one of the greatest final lines in all of literature.
Hemingway was the epitome of the tough guy expecially the tough guy with a stiff upper lip, but Mike Iveson who played Jake Barnes was rather winning. The other cast members were terrific as was the set. costumes were very well done except for the Banana Republic shirt. The sound design, while clever, distracted a little. A waiter would come, pour air, a pouring sound was heard, and the actor picked up a glass with liquid in it. Cute but showy. And I liked it more than it irritated me.
This was a long production--it told me more than I needed to know. I got that they drank a lot--I didn't need to be told so often that they were "tight" and could have skipped several of the scenes. Theater is different from the novel. Following the source too closely etiolates the theatricality of the play.
But I still liked it and would recommend that you see it if you are in NYC at the moment. There is that lovely final line.
Hemingway was the epitome of the tough guy expecially the tough guy with a stiff upper lip, but Mike Iveson who played Jake Barnes was rather winning. The other cast members were terrific as was the set. costumes were very well done except for the Banana Republic shirt. The sound design, while clever, distracted a little. A waiter would come, pour air, a pouring sound was heard, and the actor picked up a glass with liquid in it. Cute but showy. And I liked it more than it irritated me.
This was a long production--it told me more than I needed to know. I got that they drank a lot--I didn't need to be told so often that they were "tight" and could have skipped several of the scenes. Theater is different from the novel. Following the source too closely etiolates the theatricality of the play.
But I still liked it and would recommend that you see it if you are in NYC at the moment. There is that lovely final line.
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