This weekend I spent alot of my time watching plays. Lucky for me, Halifax is full of accessible theatre options in the summer months. My favourite presentation was the Saturday production of Closer. If anyone remembers, I named the recent film version of this play as one of my 5 best films of 2004. I also gave kudos to Clive Owen and props to Natalie Portman for their outstanding performances in the piece. My opportunity to see the play gave clearer insight to the story and strengthened my love for the film.Written by Patrick Marber in the late 90s, Closer was a stage hit in London before tackling Broadway. Owen was featured on the English stage but in the role of Dan whereas in the film he was Larry. Larry continues to be the most magnetic character even in the simple presentation I saw Saturday. Using sparse black staging, the Genesis Theatre version put the focus on the characters. This story is meant to be delivered this way. The play is more thematically whole than the film because the Alice storyline comes full circle. The play is also more explicit in the unravelling of the narrative - an element that is important on the stage to maintain coherence and one that was appropriately muddied on the screen.
It goes without saying that the local cast does not hold up to the star version. In fact, I found the live performance to be a tad stilted, thereby harming the emotional rawness that was so powerful in the movie. In particular, the actress playing Alice chose to be more aloof and never shed a tear. But for me, it is Portman's tears that bring the most tragedy. Still, with such difficult material, the Canadian crew deftly carried the bulk of it. The chat room scene between Dan and Larry was exquisite to watch.
As a first presentation for a fledgling company, Closer is an ambitious choice. The experience was also the most stripped-down theatre production I have seen. But the lure of the name and the opportunity to see live actors deliver the sharp and biting dialogue got me into the seat. Closer has become one of my plays to see anytime it is presented. In the meantime, I can sit at home and watch the movie again.
4 comments:
I can't take credit for the site - it's all blogger.
Ah, you poor child. Those comments are the fruit of spammers, not actual admirers.
Closer was really an excellent piece of drama.
I can't remember being that viscerally affected by a film "about" love in a very, very long time.
As a consequence, I'm very curious to see his other work.
I saw him speak at Oxford, interviewing Cate Blanchett, in fact (who is starring in a movie for which he wrote the screenplay) and he has a wicked sense of humor as well.
Both witty and profound, though I guess that distinction is a false one, for Closer, it seems to me, is steeped in humor; albeit of the extremely bleak, black kind.
I'm curious -- given Marber wrote the screenplay, is there any significant difference between the stage and film version?
thanks for the heads up Invisible ... I got the spam vibe but thought I'd just let it go this time :)
Differences from screenplay to stage play? Two notable differences come to mind:
1) in the play, Alice dies - literally - hence my comment about her story arc coming full circle as the character that gives her life to "save" others
2)the affair between Alice and Larry is more explicit in the play and includes a scene where Anna finds out about it and confronts Alice who tells her to give Dan up - all of these details were cut from the movie version which makes Anna's return to Larry motivated solely by her and Alice appear more innocent than she is
I think the changes are perfect for the change in medium. I noticed upon viewing the film again how close it is to the play's dialogue. And, how an entire film can only have 4 characters speak = amazing.
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