Susan Granger’s review of “The Height of the Storm” (Samuel J. Friedman Theatre)
When is a puzzle not intriguing? When it gets so tedious that you just don’t care anymore!
That’s the case in this Manhattan Theatre Club production about the disconcerting relationship between an elderly Parisian couple, one of whom may or may not be dead.
“You think people are dead, but it’s not always the case,” notes Andre (Jonathan Pryce), who has been married to Madeline (Eileen Atkins) for 50 years.
Written by Florian Zeller (“The Father,” “The Mother,” “The Son”), translated from the original French by Christopher Hampton (“Les Liaisons Dangereuses”), its purpose is to confuse and disorient the audience. Which it does, perhaps giving a glimpse into the uncomprehending effects of dementia.
As it begins, Andre’s concerned daughter Anne (Amanda Drew) is in the kitchen, arranging ‘condolence’ flowers and reminiscing about their cluttered childhood home in the French countryside. We see Andre standing by the window, but is he really there? Did her mother just die?
Hard to tell – because acerbic Madeline then appears, toting a bag of fresh mushrooms to be sautéed with chives for an omelet. Plus there’s Anne’s younger, more self-centered sibling Elise (Lisa O’Hare), talking about her latest lover (James Hillier), along with a mysterious woman (Lucy Cohu) from Andre’s past who prattles on about an affair and an illegitimate son.
Along the way, playwright Zeller drops hints about the play’s essential uncertainty, like when Anne explains she’s reading her formidable writer/father’s diaries, trying to understand his work, and he childes: “There’s nothing to understand. People who try to understand things are morons.”
So I gave up trying to make sense of the cryptic narrative, particularly since director Jonathan Kent has characters, who may or may not exist, look directly at one another. (In contrast in “The Sixth Sense,” some characters never made eye-contact, indicating that one of them might not really be present.)
Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins are acclaimed British thespians but even their insightful performances cannot redeem the frustration of Zeller’s enigmatic theatrical concept.
Andrew Ward’s high-ceilinged set design and costumes contribute authenticity, along with Hugh Vanstone’s dramatic lighting, Paul Groothuis’ sound and Gary Yershon’s original music.
The limited run of “The Height of the Storm” concludes on Nov. 24th