Posterity
Tickets from $67 Buy Tickets
Cititour.com Review
Without playwrights, how would we ever know what have might gone one behind closed doors among history’s greatest figures. For example, right now, Peter Morgan is treating us to his idea of the private exchanges been Queen Elizabeth II (played by the flawless Helen Mirren) and her many Prime Ministers in Broadway’s “The Audience”; while Lin-Manuel Miranda is treating to us the dazzling dialogue he envisioned between Alexander Hamilton and arch-rival Aaron Burr in the brilliant Broadway-bound “Hamilton” at the Public Theater.
Meanwhile, Pulitzer Prize winner Doug Wright is giving us his version of two pivotal conversations between famed Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen and noted sculptor Gustav Vigeland (who designed the Nobel Peace Prize) in “Posterity” at the Atlantic Theater. Wright’s play is, admittedly, the least successful of these works, alternating some lively debate about the nature of art and the importance of personal legacy with banal biographical details. Fortunately, it nevertheless provides a superb showcase for its two lead actors, John Noble (as Ibsen) and Hamish Linklater (as Vigeland), who consistently maintain our interest.
Noble – now best known as Henry Parrish on FOX’s “Sleepy Hollow” – brings his decades of stage technique to the forefront, creating a superbly complex and ultimately sorrowful portrait of Ibsen. When the elderly Ibsen first arrives, reluctantly, at Vigeland’s studio (gorgeously designed by Derek McLane) to “discuss” sitting for a bust commissioned by local officials, he’s the model of arrogance, boasting of his accomplishments (personal and professional), deriding his critics (especially theater critics), and demeaning Vigeland at every opportunity.
In act two, set just a day later as Ibsen faces possible death, he lets his guard down to confess his regrets and sins. Noble expertly captures every inch of the humanity and humility of the great man, who admits to having not been a great husband or father. The Australian-born actor show’s no trace of his native land in his booming quasi-English accent, and essentially commands us to listen to every word.
Linklater, best known as a gifted comic actor on stage and television, does bring some much-needed humor to the often-manic Vigeland, but he’s equally comfortable with the script’s more dramatic moments, as we see how Vigeland’s life as an artist relies on compromise, ingenuity, and pure dedication.
Wright (who also directed the piece with great simplicity) has chosen not to go the standard two-character route, adding small but meaty appearances for Vigeland’s solicitor/agent Sophus Largent (the always welcome Henry Stram); elderly model-cum-cleaning lady Greta Bergstrom (Broadway veteran Dale Soules in top form), and cocky young apprentice Anfinn Beck (Mickey Theis, comfortable with both the role’s nudity and its emotional arc).
I don’t know how much posterity there will be for “Posterity” (although I suspect it will do well in regional theaters), but New Yorkers with a free night will be richly rewarded by its superb acting.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://atlantictheater.org/playevents/posterity
Cast
Hamish Linklater, John Noble, Dale Soules, Henry Stram, Mickey Theis
Open/Close Dates
Opening 2/25/2015
Closing 4/5/2015
Box Office
866-811-4111
Theatre Info
Atlantic Theater Company/Linda Gross Theater
336 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
Map
Comments
Sign up for our newsletter !