Tom Stoppard's Russian trilogy a U.S. hit

20/02/2007 21:30

By Christine Kearney

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tom Stoppard’s epic eight-hour trilogy "The Coast of Utopia" about 19th century Russian revolutionaries has won rave U.S. reviews and defied fears that its subject matter would be too heavy for theatre goers.

The concluding play, "Salvage", opened on Sunday night, capping the story that spans four decades and chronicles the lives of Russian intellectuals such as political writer Alexander Herzen.

Reviews released on Monday echoed the unanimous praise given to the first two parts, "Voyage" and "Shipwreck," which opened in New York in November and December respectively. Performances are sold out and it is one of this season’s hottest tickets.

The elaborate play and production first gained critical acclaim at London’s National Theatre in 2002 and, with some of the philosophical debate edited for New York, it has become one of the best reviewed plays of the season.

Writing in The New York Times, critic Ben Brantley said that "despite its status as the season’s ultimate snob ticket," the third installment "is as hot-blooded and teary-eyed as your average afternoon soap opera."

"What makes ’Utopia’ such indispensable theatre is Mr. Stoppard’s full-hearted embrace of the flux and chaos of history, along with his youthful .....continued below

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delight as a student of human idiosyncrasy," Brantley wrote.

In other reviews, critics praised the acting, the direction by Jack O’Brien and a spectacular production that features a revolving glass-like stage.

David Rooney of Variety said the beginning sequence to all three parts, showing Herzen spinning on an elevated chair swallowed by rising "silken waves," has become "like a great title sequence for your favourite highbrow miniseries."

BRAINY BUT FUNNY

Veteran stage actor Richard Easton, 73, who is the oldest in the cast of 44 that includes Tony Award-winning Brian F. O’Byrne, Ethan Hawke and Billy Crudup, told Reuters late last week that the Czech-born British playwright’s production was an "extraordinary achievement" in theatre.

"He is such a great storyteller," said Easton, noting the ease with which "the actual construction of the play varies tremendously" as it slips between time periods and cities including Moscow, Paris and London.

Easton, who was hospitalized for a heart condition during previews, said concern that the material could be too heavy to be entertaining was misleading.

"It is almost so irritating that people are encouraged to get all tense about it," he said. "Everyone concentrates on how brainy he (Stoppard) is, but to me he is funny, like Shakespeare.

"Shakespeare’s idea was to make them laugh, then hit them with something, and that is the same with Tom."

Reuters

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