Two legendary actors come together in one unforgettable story of a shared life and all of its complexities.
Two-time Olivier and Tony Award winner Jonathan Pryce ("Game of Thrones", "The Two Popes", "The Wife", Miss Saigon) joins three-time Olivier Award winner Eileen Atkins ("The Crown", Doubt, The Retreat from Moscow, Indiscretions) to bring the acclaimed West End sensation by Florian Zeller, and translated by Christopher Hampton (MTC's The Father), to Broadway.
For 50 years the lives of Andre and Madeleine have been filled with the everyday pleasures and unfathomable mysteries of an enduring marriage, until suddenly their life together begins to unravel, and this loving relationship is faced with the inevitability of change. Jonathan Kent (Long Day's Journey into Night) directs this thrilling production The Times of London declares "a deeply moving new play that takes us to the edge of what it is to love."
Jonathan Kent's handsomely designed and solidly acted production can't overcome the inherent banality and inertia of Zeller's pallid script, which ultimately resolves into widower porn. André finds a card of condolence that came with flowers introduced in the first scene and, finally, his sad situation becomes clear to him (and us, assuming we're still awake). His love lost but still sitting spookily beside him, our writer frets in his tasteful kitchen (picturesquely designed by Anthony Ward).
In some ways, the delicacy of The Height of the Storm is its strength - in the opportunity it offers for powerful actors to work with small brushes, and in the notable and refreshing absence of rage and resentment from its central characters. But this gauziness of tone also keeps the play from feeling intellectually or emotionally filling. It feels, to use the French, like an étude - a chance for performers to play briefly, and at times movingly, on certain themes, but without much ultimate sense of consequence.
2018 | London |
Pre-West End Tour London |
West End |
Original West End Production West End |
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2019 | Broadway |
Manhattan Theatre Club Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Jonathan Pryce |
2020 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Jonathan Pryce |
2020 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Eileen Atkins |
2020 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design | Hugh Vanstone |
2020 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | The Height of the Storm |
2020 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Scenic Design | Anthony Ward |
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