Interludes

2013’s Best in Play Revivals

• By drediman
• January 10, 2014
• No Comments

2013 was a sensational year for play revivals, both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. 2013 was also an unusually plentiful year for Shakespeare in New York; two of these productions are featured below. The volume of revivals was also bolstered by the continued trend in repertory pairings, which included “Waiting for Godot”/”No Man’s Land” with Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, Bedlam Theater Company’s exuberant “Saint Joan”/”Hamlet”, and the incomparable Mark Rylance in “Twelfth Night”/”Richard III”.

(Note: the list below is in alphabetical order)

1. The Glass Menagerie

John Tiffany’s exquisite, haunted revival of Tennessee Williams’ ubiquitous classic opened to ecstatic notices and proved to be both a critical and commercial hit.  It was one of the few straight plays to recoup its initial investment last year, and deservedly so. Cherry Jones and Zachary Quinto turned in benchmark performances, leading a remarkable cast, which also included the luminous Celia Keenan-Bolger.

2. Good Person of Szechwan

Who knew Brecht could be this fun? The Foundry Theatre’s rollicking revival, directed with glorious glee by Lear deBessonet, featured an irrepressible, big-hearted central performance by Taylor Mac as the down-on-her-luck Shen Tei, as well as an hilarious supporting turn by the multi-talented Lisa Kron. The production proved to be such a success at La Mama that it was remounted later in the year, to the same plaudits, at the Public Theater.

3. Julius Caesar

Another transfer from London’s Donmar Warehouse (the other being Conor McPherson’s extraordinary “The Night Alive”), Phyllida Lloyd’s scalding all-female revival at St. Ann’s Warehouse was the most memorable “Julius Caesar” I have yet seen.  Set in a women’s penitentiary, this production depicted, more effectively than any other production of Shakespeare’s popular work I have seen previously, the dog-eats-dog brutality of politics and war.  The performances were all on the same high-octane level, plunging the audience into the visceral reality of the play’s world.

4. Twelfth Night

Much like, the Foundery Theatre’s revival of “Good Person”, this import of the Globe Theatre’s Elizabethan staging of “Twelfth Night” lifted Shakespeare’s comedy to manic, giddy heights. This is in no small part due to Mark Rylance’s rightfully celebrated performance as the mourning Olivia. Despite the traditional production, Mr. Rylance’s unorthodox performance was actually quite daring, bringing a manic energy to a role more associated with stateliness.  This was a transporting evening in the theater, marking a high point in a season that was chock full Shakespeare revivals.

5. The Winslow Boy

The Roundabout Theatre Company came up with one of the most unexpected, satisfying revivals of the year, Terence Rattigan’s rarely mounted “The Winslow Boy”, which is about the emotional cost of standing one’s moral ground amidst naysayers. No expense was spared on this handsome revival, a production that was originally mounted by director Lindsay Posner for the Old Vic in London. He smartly recast the show for New York audiences, which included magnificent, heartfelt performances from Roger Rees, Charlotte Parry, and Alessandro Nivola. This was one of the very best Roundabout outings in recent years.