09 Dec 2006
I seem to be getting around this year! Now it’s New York to see David Auburn (author of PROOF) and then my wonderful friends Luke Rhinehart (author of The Dice Man) and his wife Ann.
I’ve already seen good theatre and bad theatre. Who would have guessed Julianne Moore could be so awful in David Hare’s didactic play THE VERTICAL HOUR. Oy vey! Not one single inhabited sentence came from her lips. If she had been doing it for six months one could have given her the benefit of the doubt – but she opened last Thursday! You have no idea just how bad someone good can be until you see her ‘performance’. What is she doing??
The day was saved the following night with NO CHILD off-Broadway – an excellent one woman show with Nilaja Sun – who inhabited not only her own body but that of several other characters with complete sincerity.
As ever, Broadway and Off-Broadway display two distinct theatrical values. Nilaja’s show was a lot cheaper and a lot better value!