BENT - Mark Taper Forum

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 7/17/15 at 6:45pm

Really excited to see this - Jake Shears, Moises Kaufman...

can't wait

Haven't read anything about it?

What's the buzz?

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 7/17/15 at 6:51pm

I'm going tonight. I'm really excited. So cool that I saw Andy Mientus 2 months ago in Spring Awakening.. and now in a play. The overall cast sounds great. On CTG's facebook the set looks amazing.

[DAME]

Posted: 7/17/15 at 6:53pm

Jake Shears from Scissor Sisters is playing Greta the drag queen.  

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Posted: 7/17/15 at 7:30pm

This is something I really wish I could see. I just read the play earlier this year and I found the story and the truth behind it to be heartbreaking. I'm looking forward to seeing more opinions and thoughts on this.

Updated On: 7/17/15 at 07:30 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/17/15 at 8:49pm

Saw the original Broadway production with Richard Gere. Good play.

[LarryD2]

Posted: 7/17/15 at 10:35pm

Long overdue for a New York revival (Zachary Quinto as Max, please).

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/17/15 at 10:40pm

Two words: Ute Lemper

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 7/18/15 at 12:21am

At intermission. This show is so scary. The production is top notch. There's a turn table. There was a guy with the biggest penis I've ever seen lol So far it has everyone at the edge of our seats. This whole holocaust story is giving me goosebumps. So intense. So beautiful. The acting is phenomenal. This is definitely not for kids. Don't miss this production. I really hope it goes to Broadway. It's long overdue for a revival. It's a really dark story.

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Posted: 7/18/15 at 1:12am

So good scary? The story is very well done, but when you connect it to reality, it's heavy.

I hope that if the show gets positive reviews, it would be restaged somewhere. I'd be all for it coming to Broadway, but I'd settle on an LA production if I could see it.

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 7/18/15 at 1:55am

The show overall was phenomenal. It was so heavy with emotion. The famous sex scene from the second act..omg. I was trying not to get turned on. The acting was so good. Best acted show I've ever seen. The second act is a little more slow. The first act moves faster.. That's the book. Not this production. I cried, I laughed, I was in shock. You will probably not see a better production ever. The leads were outstanding. Don't miss it.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 7/18/15 at 5:49am

Can't wait seeing it next Saturday night 

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 7/18/15 at 5:52am

It's a chilling play, I hope it can make it to Broadway

[PepperedShepherd]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 11:27am

Saw it last night.

In a word: Stunning.

I have only seen the film version (ages ago), so can make no comparisons to previous productions. The staging at the Taper is pretty minimalist with a large wooden platform, mounted on a turntable stage, serving as the setting for Max & Rudy's apartment, Greta's nightclub, the train compartment, etc. When we move into the camp, the platform dramatically rises perpendicular to the stage and becomes a guard tower. (A photo album can be found on the Center Theatre Group's Facebook page.)

The acting -- omg, the acting! I am not familiar with Patrick Heusinger [Max] but he is nothing short of stunning. (There's that word again.) It's one of those performances that is so real, so raw, so wrenching, that you wonder how an actor can put himself into that place night after night.  (I was sitting in the front row and could see tears welling up in Patrick's eyes in various scenes throughout.)

Matching Patrick in intensity is Charlie Hofheimer as Horst.  You simply can't buy the kind of chemistry that exists between these two, which is crucial to the play.  The power & complexity of their interactions is even more impressive when you consider that half the time they're not even looking at one another.  And, as for the Act Two sex scene: Is it wrong to say that it was a major turn-on? The connection between these two actors is so palpable, that it became one of the most powerfully erotic things I've ever seen.

Everyone else in the cast is fine. Andy Mientus is heart-breaking as Rudy, who just wants to dance and water his plants. There is more emotional distance between his character & Max, but that seems to be in keeping with the play.  Ray Baker strikes a perfect note as Max's "fluff" uncle Freddie and Jake Shears makes the most of his brief scenes as Greta. Lastly, I must at least make a little mention of Tom Berklund as Wolf -- although there is nothing "little" about him at all.

I did notice a few walkouts, but I think that's a testament to the power of the piece and not a critique of the production.  It's not a "pleasant" play, and it challenges an audience to go to places they may not want to go.  One thing that became clear to me, however, is that BENT is by no means a "museum piece".  I'd wondered going into it whether the advances of recent years would take some of the edge off. Based upon my own reaction, as well as the gasps and sobs in the theater last night, it has lost none of its power and still has something very important to say.

[BWNUT]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 4:17am

It's what good theater is supposed to do but holy crap! 3 hours after I'm at home and still shaken. I can't remember feeling so much and shedding copious tears in a theater before .  It's over used but no other word to describe it: stunning. I'll add devastating.  And those actors! The cast is impeccable but the two leads, how can they do that every  night? Almost all of the second act was just the two of them carrying big heavy rocks (are they real???) back and forth across the stage while detonating emotional explosives. Couldn't help but worry about the actors' physical and emotional well being. I could literally see sweat and tears dripping from their faces. I know it's impossible,but I swear they gradually emaciate before my eyes! As previous posters have said, gasps, sniffles and sobs in the audience attest to this play's enduring power and relevance. Go see it.

Updated On: 7/20/15 at 04:17 AM

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 5:31pm

Center Theatre Group said that they are real rocks. This whole cast needs to transfer to Broadway. You don't need BIG names to tell this beautiful, heartfelt story.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 6:15pm

Thanks for the reviews guys. This sounds fascinating! I saw the film a very long time ago and barely remember it. I hope this makes it to Broadway...I really want to see it!!

[Alessio2]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 7:22pm

Agree with everything on this thread so far! Saw it last Thursday and it truly was a magnificent production of a really tragic and sad story. Very heavy and definitely not a "fun" night at the theater. The cast was flawless, and yes especially the two leads!! Just amazing. What did you guys think of the actors not having a curtain call? Did you miss it? Or do you think it added even more of a dramatic touch?

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 7:25pm

I went on friday. I stage doored and Andy told me that it was the first time they had a bow. After all they're in previews. They all come out look at the holocaust people and then there's a black out. 

[Alessio2]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 7:29pm

Interesting. So I guess at first they were gonna go with no bows? It totally worked, it made it even more dramatic and the audience just didn't seem to know what to do! It almost felt awkward and uncomfortable to applaud at the end of the play when there is the blackout.

[DAME]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 7:48pm

Everyone I know has been raving about this one.  

[PepperedShepherd]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 8:23pm

Yes, the rocks are real.  I was sitting in the first row and often saw pieces breaking off them as they were dropped.  (At one point, a fairly sizeable chip flew out into the audience stage left.  Fortunately, no one was sitting in those seats, but they might want to be careful of that in the future.)  There was also quite a bit of debris left on stage afterward.

As for the curtain call, it sounds like they were trying out different approaches. 

 

** SPOILER ALERT **

 

When I saw it last Saturday, the play ended with a blackout during which the entire cast took position on stage. When the lights went back up, their backs were to the audience, looking at the "memorial wall" to the rear.  They then turned to face the audience, but there was no traditional curtain call-esque behavior. No big smiles or stepping forward or bows from the leads, etc. They stood there solemnly for a moment, then they all walked off.  Even though the audience continued to clap for several more minutes, the cast never returned.

It seemed to work perfectly: It gave the audience a chance to show their appreciation and for the cast to receive that acknowledgement, without breaking the very powerful spell that existed at the end.

Updated On: 7/20/15 at 08:23 PM

[BWNUT]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 8:50pm

Sunday night curtain call was the same. All done very quietly. No music just the shuffling of feet. With the lighting, the effect was haunting, ghostly, and poignant.

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 12:14am

deeply upsetting and powerful, i can't recall a more intense theatrical experience

i have vague recollections of the movie but have never seen the play before.

kudos to the playwright, the director, the talented cast (that second act is a master class in Acting) and Center Theater Group

[jbm2]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 1:58am

What's the running time of this show?

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 2:04am

2 hours and 30 minutes including intermission. Everything is on their website. 

http://www.centertheatregroup.org/tickets/bent/

Updated On: 7/21/15 at 02:04 AM