Mzungu Nyekundu Sikai Afrika (original) (raw)

I will admit that my original motivation in buying tickets to see this play was to placate Adam's mother, who is an unabashedly huge fan of Alan Rickman.

Once we realized that, on account of the impending storm, that Adam's mother wouldn't even be able to attend the show, I will admit too that we nearly didn't go at all. But money is money, and money is tight, and if it meant that I might get to MEET

Snape

, Alan Rickman, then dammit we'd be the only people in the theatre on a snowy evening.

Except that we weren't! Amazingly, despite the abysmal forecast, there was little actual snowfall by the time we attended the 7:30pm show in Brooklyn, and the house was completely packed.

Not an empty seat anywhere, New Yorkers refused to stay home. In lieu of Mrs Singh, reverend_dave came with us, and the three of us packed into our obstructed view seats.

The set design seemed particularly funny considering the environment outside. It was sparse, and punctuated by huge white snow drifts that were the only dressing on the stage, which shone like black volcanic glass and echoed back little reflections of the white of the snow.

There were three pieces of furniture as well, Victorian-style, in an otherwise colorless design, but the colors were still pretty muted.

I really liked the sparseness. It ended up giving the sense that the whole cast of characters were always cold, and colorless, and that their footing was on a sheet of glossy ice, likely to crack beneath them at any time. I enjoy these visual metaphors a lot, because it makes me think of the set as more than just props.

The costumes were also amazing; there is a reason that Steampunk fashion is so popular. Women in high-necked, corseted and flowing dresses are stunning. It accentuates the delicate angling of their jaws, and enhances the contrast between small waists and full bosom/bottoms. The bottom of the dresses would catch errant snow particles and swoosh along the black shining floor, leaving a trail that was entrancing to follow.

The problem with this play was, in all honesty, the play itself. It's a tawdry tale of a man who loves a woman, but leaves her to marry her sister once he discovers that his boss is willing to promote him for a chance to woo his original femme. He has a child with the sister (a TWIN) and is discovered to be embezzling money from this job he got from marrying his original love's twin sister. He and his wife are disgraced, and the original love takes the child (a son) and raises him to keep him out of the limelight. But she wants him! For her own! And she's dying!

None of these characters are likable. They are all so selfish and narcissistic that I could not help but

sleep

scowl through most of the play. They're all interested in the son, but only to enact their own selfish desires. His mother wants him to avenge her being disgraced, and his aunt just wants someone to love her and care for her while she dies. The son just wants to live his own life, and has fallen in love, and all of these people who are meant to have his best interests at heart are in fact trying to impede his plans so that they can use him.

People who know me know that I already have huge issues with people who don't prioritize their children, and as most plays (and a lot of films) are just real life scenarios with the volume turned up to 11, this particular scenario made me so annoyed and angry with the principal characters that I became glad when no good came to any of them.

In terms of acting, I was most blown away by Fiona Shaw. Many will recognize her as Mrs. Dursley from the Harry Potter franchise, but few would have realized it was her during the play. I am always most impressed by actors who "lose" themselves in a role, and help me to "lose" them while watching. My classic example is Meryl Streep, who, to me, constantly makes me forget that she is Meryl Streep while she is Julia Child or Anna Wintour or some trashy pink-clad romance novelist who steals Roseanne Barr's husband.

Fiona Shaw did just that, and her intensity and cadence were bewitching. Were she not playing an awful, selfish mother, I would have LOVED her entirely.

Which brings me to Alan Rickman. No one can deny that he is a stunning actor, but I cannot say that his presence... as Snape, as Sir Alexander Dane... as John Gabriel Borkman ... still feels like Alan Rickman. His cadence, his pauses, his tone, his deliberate, slow, growling intensity. They are all good, but I really had trouble identifying him as Borkman, specifically. I will say though that often I feel like his greatest strength is in the betrayal of his eyes -- Snape may be doing one thing, but you can see in Rickman's eyes where his heart lies.

So, to be fair, I couldn't see his eyes. Or a big chunk of the stage, because there was a pillar in my way.

Underwhelming though the play was, even the subzero temperatures could not prevent me from stopping at the stage door. It's one of the plusses of living in New York. Every actor has to go home eventually, and waiting by the stage door is not limited to the attendees of the show. I met Fiona Shaw, who seemed warm and friendly and sweet.

Meeting Alan Rickman was funny, because again, he was almost sarcastically stoic. I cannot imagine his friends saying, "Oh hey, Al, let's go see 'I love you, Man'" I cannot imagine him laughing, and there was no warmth in his eyes. He was gracious enough to sign Adam's program specifically to his mother, and to take a photo with me, but I cannot say that meeting Severus Snape himself wouldn't have been warmer.

Overall, though, a wonderful night. Meeting the cast bumps this baby up from a B- to a B.

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