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A CurtainUp Review
Nightingale
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Lynn Redgrave Tells the Story of her Grandmother to Manhattan Theater Club Audiences
Editor's Note: Actress Lynn Redgrave first found her voice as a playwright with Shakespeare for My Father, which gave her a chance to explore her relationship with her father Sir Michael Redgrave. Three years ago her own family history again served as the wellspring for utilizing her talents as an actress and playwright. Like that first solo, Nightingale, which premiered at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, is one of those easy traveling plays that can hit the ground running. The relative inspiring Redgrave to examine her own life through her writing is her grandmother a promising woman stymied by society and all but erased by history, a touching personal tribute and a resounding song for all those people whose voices we’ve lost, or never known. In Los Angeles, Lynn Redgrave opened her solo show, Nightingale, by walking through a cemetery where her grandparents are buried. After finding their names obliterated by acid rain, she begins her story, which blends her own experiences with those she imagines her grandmother might have had. Below are Paulanne Simmon's observations on the production now playing Off-Broadway, followed by Laura Hithcock's review in Los Angeles:
Paulanne Simmons on the current Nightingale Recovering from surgery, Redgrave had to make some modifications when the show moved to Manhattan Theatre Club. Now she walks to a desk placed center stage carrying the script, a large bound book. She sits behind the desk and opens the book with a loud bang. "This is it," she seems to be saying. "I’m going to sit, and I’m going to read. Deal with it." And so she does. And so we do. Although Redgrave makes mention of her recently deceased niece, whom she calls "our family’s bright comet," the story of her family has not changed much. As she turns the pages (she actually refers to the script very seldom) and delves into the past, Redgrave seems much like a very elegant grandmother telling her story to a teenage granddaughter who listens with rapt attention. Only in this case, it is not the granddaughter but the audience that is caught in the web of Redgrave’s tale. And as with most stories, what makes it truly wondrous is how much the teller shares with us about herself. New York Production Notes: Nightingale written by and starring Lynn Redgrave Directed by Joseph Hardy Produced by MTC at New York City Center – Stage I 131 West 55th Street Scenic Design: Tobin Ost Costumes: Alejo Vietti Lighting: Rui Rita Original Music & Sound: John Gromada (Original Music & Sound Design). Tuesday at 7 PM. Wednesday through Saturday at 8 PM. Matinees on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2 PM From 10/15/09; opens 11/03/09; closing 12/13/09. Running Time: 85 minutes. Scroll on to read Laura Hitchcock's review of the original production. |
Review of Nightingale during it's premiere production by
Laura Hitchcock
| Once upon a time…not very long ago, I began a new life as a single woman. But…at that moment I badly needed my mother and sister. So, I flew to England to stay for a few days with Vanessa and Mum. — Lynn Redgrave |
The prologue begins with Redgrave walking through a cemetery where her grandparents are buried and finding their gravestones washed clean by Europe's acid rain. Struck by the impermanence of records and her own "altered state" which causes her "to cling to some thread of immortality"”, she begins a story, inspired by her grandmother's life and told in chronological scenes, of a woman she calls Mildred
Mildred' story begins in 1904 when she is 11. Mildred's rites of passage are familiar and timeless: she's embarrassed to tell God about getting "the curse", her sister's wedding makes her wonder if she'll ever meet a man and her wedding night in 1913 is a nightmare. "Marriage seemed such an exciting idea until it happened, "says a confused Mildred of the act never discussed in those days.
By the time the play ends in 1973, we've followed Mildred through the dull lonely routine of a traditional muted marriage, the indignity of a penny-pinching existence, an unconsummated attraction that all her life is symbolized by the yearning song of a nightingale and her fraught relationships with her children, Rose and Mark. The final scene finds a widowed Milly on a painting holiday in Provence where the landscape becomes memories of things past and her mixed reactions combine regrets with reckonings.
Tobin Ost has designed a scrim backdrop reminiscent of the screen covered with pictures that protected little Mildred from draughts. The nightingale is there as are bucolic pictures of the England Mildred's mother told her to evoke on her wedding night with the familiar exhortation, "Close your eyes and think of England!" After the birth of her daughter, Mildred sighs, "I really have thought now about every possible corner of England!" Rui Rita's intuitive lighting individualizes each scene.
Redgrave paints a fierce poignant portrait of a woman who is a victim of her time and of her own limitations. Although Mildred is not a witty woman, Redgrave is, and her skill as actress and writer laces the play with moments of humor. Astutely directed by Joseph Hardy, her timing is impeccable and the performance grows from the fearfulness of a child and girl to the disillusionment of a woman trapped in the ignorant rigidity of her time. It is shaded by wistful unrequited desire, the passion and sorrow of maternity, jealousy of her sister and daughter. Redgrave's greatest achievement is making the woman perceived by her family as cold and narrow an empathetic character, not because she's understanding or takes advantage of what life could offer, but because of her humanity and her pain.
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NIGHTINGALE Playwright: Lynn Redgrave Director: Joseph Hardy Cast: .Lynn Redgrave Set Design: Tobin Ost Lighting Design: Rui Rita Costume Design: Candice Cain Sound Design: Cricket S. Myers Running Time: 85 minutes, no intermission Running Dates: October 4 to November 19, 2006 Where:..The Mark Taper Forum, 135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, Reservations: (213) 628-2772. Reviewed by Laura Hitchcock on October 15, 2006. |
Easy-on-the budget super gift for yourself and your musical loving friends. Tons of gorgeous pictures.
Leonard Maltin's 2007 Movie Guide
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