A stunning conception and Cillian Murphy is, for my money, our greatest living actor.
The opening sound, heard in darkness, is at once a thud, a groan, a scrape, a screech and more, and it rattled me so hard I had tears well up before the stage lights came up. Bravo, Helen Atkinson, sound designer, and everyone who contributed to this astonishing production.
The montage of mothers not the boys' own broke my heart, if not this reviewer's.
4
Big fan of the acting of cillian murphy. Good to see him utilized properly.
7
Wonderful review and sad that it is sold-out! Wondering why Mr. Bradley characterized this work as "British" when both the director/adapter, Enda Walsh, and actor, Cillian Murphy, are Irish born artists. Perhaps "from London" might be a better tag, and then acknowledge the creators' lineage with powerful Irish dramatists.
19
I saw this play last weekend without any knowledge of it. I didn't read ny reviews etc. I went because as a widower who has written about grief, love, and loss extensively I wanted to see what this play said and how it said it. I was so engaged in the staging, the acting, and the dialogue that I realized my memory of my grief, which felt fog like, was in fact what is presented here. It is a powerful and evocative play that captures grief well. Not pretty nor embracing but like a punch in the gut.
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Odd that there's no mention or exploration of the fact that the title is taken directly from Emily Dickinson's poem, "Hope is the thing with feathers."
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@jer Perhaps the author of this mesmerizing review assumed that us sophisticated readers would be aware of Emily's part in all of this! To me, I kept feeling a familiarity with the title that I couldn't quite place and am grateful to you for clearing that up.
3
Yes! I kept rereading it, expecting a nod to Emily Dickinson. Hopefully Porter acknowledged her in his book.
HOPE is the thing with feathers...
3
@Barbara Byron, the Emily Dickinson connection of this play's title -
Among the shows I saw very recently was a happily no-skimping physically, emotionally or in imagination “Belle of Amherst” in New Jersey, a house I'm drawn to since somehow neighbors and co-workers routinely seem to be involved there (and it's steps from the Red Bank transit station from Penn Station on a gorgeous train, magical like I never left the West Side. It's where “Be More Chill” originated, and it was odd seeing all the very youthful “Be More Chill” stuff for sale in that beautiful stately lobby. And looking at the merch after the show, it hit me - For an Emily Dickinson in the 2000s, hope could have been the thing with bandwidth.
Emily Dickinson had enough money for the life she wanted, yet with family around and visitors always visiting, she felt alone (so the author got its being a one-actress show so right even as we watch her interacting). On the train ride home, I researched and it felt clear, Emily Dickinson in the 2000s would have found some or even many people who would be moved by her work, responded both pro and con, which would have encouraged her to create even more which the play posited was all she wanted, she either would have become known or not, but what she sought likely not elusive.
1
Cillian Murphy is an outstanding actor and this play adds another string to his bow. I saw it at the Barbican in London and was enthralled by his performance and how well he works with children. I thoroughly recommend this, if only to see another side of this very talented Irish actor.
13