Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge bring SEA WALL / A LIFE to breathtaking and heartbreaking life, again

• By drediman
• August 15, 2019
• No Comments

Jake Gyllenhaal in “Sea Wall / A Life” at the Hudson Theatre. Photo by Hubert Smith.

I had some misgivings when it was announced that Sea Wall / A Life was transferring from Off-Broadway’s Public Theater to the Great White Way. Commercially, the move makes sense. The involvement of film star Jake Gyllenhaal all but guaranteed that the Off-Broadway run would sell out (and it did). So why not then, schedules permitting, go for a Broadway run? That being said, the experience at the Public – essentially two disparate but thematically connected monologues about the joys and perils of young fatherhood – was so intimate and delicately-wrought that I was skeptical that it could be replicated as effectively in a Broadway house.

Well, I needn’t have worried. Sea Wall / A Life is even more breathtaking at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre (where it recently opened) than it was Off-Broadway. The exquisitely-paired double bill is written by Simon Stephens (Sea Wall) and Nick Payne (A Life), two of the most most talented and successful British playwrights of their generation. Sea Wall, in which Mr. Payne gorgeously articulates the immense inexpressibility of a devastating personal tragedy, is arguably the finer of the two plays. Upon a second viewing, the depth of anguish it depicts is as palpable as I remember. I had some minor qualms about the forced levity of A Life when I first encountered it at the Public, and it seems like Mr. Stephens has smartly re-written portions of it since then, and for the better. Its tone is now more balanced, and together, the two complimentary monologues now stand proudly as equals. As such, their collective and carefully calibrated exploration of the mysteries of life and death hits harder.

Both Mr. Gyllenhaal (who collaborated previously with Mr. Payne in Constellations, also on Broadway) and his co-star Tom Sturridge now dig deeper into their respective roles, which is quite a bit of a compliment. I already thought they were astonishing Off-Broadway, particularly Mr. Sturridge’s slippery, shell-shocked performance, and he’s just as superb today. The good news is that the naturally charismatic Mr. Gyllenhaal – who has had quite a brilliant running streak on the boards as of late – is even more affecting, giving a more finely-tuned performance (perhaps because of the enhanced material he now has to work with) that feels more organic to the character. Director Carrie Cracknell’s bare-stage production continues to be a masterclass in both elegant understatement and penetrating theatricality.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

SEA WALL / A LIFE
Off-Broadway, Play
Hudson Theatre
1 hour, 45 minutes (with one intermission)
Through September 29