THEATER
When Fathers Falter
Pair of monologues examine love, family, and mortality
BY DAVID KENNERLEY
Two achingly brilliant
monologues, “Sea Wall”
and “A Life,” have been
paired to deliver a potent
evening of drama at the Hudson
Theatre on Broadway. The one-acts,
directed by Carrie Cracknell, could
have been collectively titled “Fatherhood,”
as both pieces explore,
with acuity and grace, the happiness
and heartache that come from
being a dad.
Written by Simon Stephens,
“Sea Wall” stars British actor Tom
Sturridge (“1984” on Broadway) as
Alex, a photographer who recounts
the extraordinary bonds between
himself, his wife Helen, his young
daughter Lucy, and his father-inlaw
Arthur. Alex is “insane with
love” for Helen and precious Lucy is
his “sweetheart.”
Alex questions if God is real, disagreeing
Oft-Told Tales
An Irish play revels in the storytelling of women
BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE
“Little Gem,” Elaine
Murphy’s tale of
three generations
of women currently
running at the Irish Rep, is a narrative
gem, rich in character and
lyricism. It is prototypically Irish
in its tales of love, loss, and frustration,
but there is a freshness in
the characters and the storytelling
that makes the piece consistently
engaging and moving.
The story and the relationships
unfold slowly as each woman tells
her tale fi rst as a monologue. As
the evening progresses, we understand
who they are to one another
and slowly become intimate with
the lives of the mother Kay, her
daughter Lorraine, and her granddaughter
Amber. Murphy’s writing
is both simple and evocative; it
is the language of the storytelling
“A Life” features Jake Gyllenhaal, who portrays a man juggling his father’s poor health and the birth of
his daughter.
with Arthur, a mathematician,
who insists that the existence
of Pi proves the existence of God. “It
is just so illogical, he told us, that
o
Marsha Mason, Lauren O’Leary, and Brenda Meaney in Elaine Murphy’s “Little Gem,” directed by Marc
Atkinson Borrull, at the Irish Rep through September 8.
that draws one into the tales and
the multiple layers of the characters’
lives. The women speak in
different cadences completely appropriate
RICHARD HUBERT SMITH
it could ever work, that it must just
prove that there’s something more
than us.”
Like any gripping tale, details are
CAROL ROSEGG
to their ages — 60-plus,
40s, and 20s — which makes the
piece feel completely contemporary,
yet the substance provides a
doled out in bits, and it takes some
effort to piece them together.
On holidays they would leave
their London home to visit Arthur
in the south of France. While on a
scuba diving trip, the men explore
the Sea Wall, a magical, foreboding
underwater cliff that drops down
hundreds of feet. Later, another
craggy wall by the sea plays a sinister
role in the story. To reveal any
more would spoil the drama.
Sturridge portrays Alex with
a marvelous emotional elasticity,
conveying the utter delight of being
beguiled by his daughter one minute,
and barely able to contain his
rage the next.
“A Life,” by Nick Payne, is really
about multiple lives – the beginning
of one life and the end of another.
The supremely talented Jake Gyllenhaal
is Abe, who contrasts the
➤ SEA WALL/ A LIFE, continued on p.25
poetic sense of timelessness that
underscores the inherent commonality
of their experiences.
The plot is very simple. While
Kay is struggling with caring for
her husband, big Gem, who has
had a stroke, she is also bemoaning
the lack of intimacy that has
inspired her to buy an appliance
for self-satisfaction. Lorraine is
dealing with a junkie ex-husband,
a new man, and trying to move
on with her life, and Amber, after
her hard-partying teenage years,
learns she’s pregnant by a man
who is not sticking around. What
holds these women together is
ultimately family, and Amber decides
to name the child after her
grandfather — making him the
Little Gem of the title.
Marc Atkinson Borrull’s direction
is fl uid and precise, allowing
➤ LITTLE GEM, continued on p.25
August 29 - September 11, 24 2019 | GayCityNews.com
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