Today is Thursday, January 10, marking the official opening night on Broadway of The Other Place, Sharr White's mysterious play about a medical researcher whose health, homelife and workplace are shaken, featuring Laurie Metcalf, reprising her earlier Off-Broadway performance, plus Daniel Stern, Zoe Perry and John Schiappa, following previews that began 11, 2012, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.
Manhattan Theatre Club produces the Joe Mantello-directed staging. Like Metcalf, Schiappa (Assassins, Take Me Out) returns to the roles he created when The Other Place had its world premiere in 2011 in the Mantello staging by Off-Broadway's MCC Theater.
Three-time Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Metcalf, - who was praised for her performance as a doctor-turned-pharmaceutical promoter facing family and health issues — is here playing opposite her real-life daughter, Perry, who is making her Broadway debut (in several roles). Daniel Stern. This marks his Broadway debut.
In the play, which is billed as a thriller, Metcalf plays Juliana Smithton, "a successful neurologist whose life seems to be coming unhinged," according to MTC. "Her husband (Daniel Stern) has filed for divorce, her daughter (Zoe Perry) has eloped with a much older man (John Schiappa) and her own health is in jeopardy. But in this brilliantly crafted work, nothing is as it seems. Piece by piece, a mystery unfolds as fact blurs with fiction, past collides with present and the elusive truth about Juliana boils to the surface."
Wit? Really? In what way? This is a mystery involving a strong woman felled by dementia, proving to be an untrustworthy protagonist/narrator providing an acute plot thrust. Except for Wit's strong woman protagonist struggling with a (totally different) disease, what at all is there that is similar? Because there are a few doctors in it too??????
"The Other Place" is a fine, strongly crafted newish American play with an amazing performance at its center. Applause.
Saw it opening night and the only comparison I can make between it and "Wit" are stellar central performances. Laurie Metcalf is jaw-droppingly good...the later scenes are absolutely devastating thanks to her body language alone.
Unlike “Wit” or “A Beautiful Mind” or “Proof” or “Next to Normal” or “Rabbit Hole” or several other such works to which it can be compared, “The Other Place” does not seem as rooted in a carefully-observed and painstakingly wrought depiction of illness and breakdown or grief. The playwright seems more engaged in creating a cat and mouse game with the audience, something with a slight whiff of “Deathtrap.” There is pleasure in this, but it is thinner on second viewing. Indeed, this puzzle might have come off as cold and almost unseemly given the subject matter were it not for Laurie Metcalf’s performance, which locates an emotional truth that is difficult to discern in the script. The Other Place: Laurie Metcalf's Awesome Transformation
"The Other Place, a one-act that runs for about seventy minutes, is a perfectly acceptable piece of theater. Scenic designer Eugene Lee has created a wonderful backdrop, a series of cold, modern, interlaid squares that appropriately reflect the scientific mind of the play’s protagonist. And Ms. Metcalf does an admirable job with Juliana, embodying her intelligence, her charm, and her proud struggle against admitting that something has happened to her most precious organ ... Still, The Other Place doesn’t have the holding power of a play like Wit; we are largely told about Juliana’s intelligence and rarely get to see it ourselves. For a work that deals with such a heavy subject, it doesn’t have much weight. Walking out of the theater, I had the sense that I would entirely forget The Other Place within the week."
The Other Place, now playing at The Manhattan Theatre Club at The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, is a living nightmare. Without ever leaving the stage, Laurie Metcalf delivers a stunning portrayal of a woman both in absolute control of all she surveys and coming apart at the seams. Master neurologist Juliana is a lone woman in the male-dominated world of big pharma. Her ability to navigate the world of science and business is equaled only by her inability to keep her personal life together; her daughter hasn’t spoken to her in years and her husband is having an affair. But wait it get’s worse, this inventor of a new wonder drug is herself experiencing troubling symptoms. Expert sound and video design, by Fitz Patton and William Cusick respectively, synergize perfectly with Metcaf’s blistering performance, propelling the audience into a heady rush of simultaneous euphoria and paranoia. Though supported by a stellar cast, Zoe Perry, Daniel Stern, and John Schiappa, this is essentially a one woman show. Metcalf’s singular talent lures you in to the inner workings of her mind and then traps you there. You’ll find yourself in The Other Place for days after you experience it. Link to Video Review of The Other Place
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joined:6/21/06
Posted: 1/10/13 at 03:15pm