Am I right that, Ms. Gevinsin having had much success already, she may thrive more on risky new experiences than sure successes? I have this scenario in my head, since I truly believe Ms. Gevinson is aware where she is right now as an actress, that she may be good with being the acknowledged "draw" (as Madonna was in "Speed the Plow" though on a more visible stage) for the limited run that likely made the event happen, and to allow the shift in focus that makes the play more right for 2018.
We saw the show opening night—this review works for me. I do wonder why in our day the stage version must omit a key event that appears in both book and film —Frankie’s frightening encounter with the soldier. The stage Frankie needs a challenge that the play never gives her. As it is, she has no reason to change and so she doesn’t. Also this Berenice is so much more sensual than Ethel Waters was, sexier, younger, with a future ahead of her. The story retains its magic, but this production shows why revivals are rare.
why is the noun unprintable if the noun was shouted in the play? isn't this exactly what the adept playwright sought to counteract?
@chris This is the Times, not Rolling Stone.
I first saw the movie version on television years after it was made, when I was a teenager, and it broke my heart. At the end the little boy has died, Frankie has moved onto what is implied will be a happier adolescence, and the housekeeper is left all alone with her memories and her beautifully superior insights into human nature. Even then I could appreciate the brilliant acting of Julie Harris, Ethel Waters, and Brandon de Wilde. Unlike Mr. Brantley, I never thought that production was directed so it was "the Frankie show." For me, Ms. Walters was my grandmother, Brandon de Wilde was my little sister, and I was Frankie, caught between childhood and adolescence. And by the way, my grandmother's parents were born in Ireland and my sister is alive and wasn't ill when I saw the film; art and empathy can transcend reality, for lack of a better word. To this day, I cry when I hear "His Eye is on the Sparrow" because I see the scene from the film in my mind's eye. It always bothered me that Frankie was able to move on so quickly from the little boy's death and abandon Bernice so utterly.
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Thanks. We're going to see it tomorrow.
We saw this performance at the Thursday matinee, and I would echo all of Mr. Brantley's comments. I left the theater with a lump in my throat. Although Frankie seems well on her way, and in that sense, the play ends happily, Berenice is left with her memories and the injustice that surrounds her. Weary, continuous sadness --as she is abandoned at the end, stroking the fox fur from her first husband. There was poignant silence as she walks away, before the applause could begin.
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