This winter, I had the opportunity to see both of The Bridge Project productions currently running in their last week at BAM. I so often miss these theatrical events in New York, either because of a lack of funds or I’m out of town working or just the business of life; so I am thrilled that I had the pleasure of seeing this collaboration of one cast of British and American actors performing two classics.
The Cherry Orchard was the first offering. Having wrestled with Chekhov in two productions myself, I know well what a wonderful and excruciating journey it is to try and make sense of his world. And I was pleasantly surprised. The story was told well, the production values were stunning, (particularly the music, which was haunting and beautiful) and, with a few exceptions, the actors were great.
Last week, I saw the second show in the rep, The Winter’s Tale, and again, what I experienced was an exquisitely beautiful, well-told version of a complicated and compelling story.
In both cases, I left the theatre glad that I had seen the shows, proud of the work my friends did and re-playing the gorgeous images in my mind. Thank you Sam Mendes! But however much I was moved by the visual artistry, I was not really emotionally involved.
I just spent 3 hours with these people, some of whom go through the most painful journeys imaginable -- and what I was left with was appreciation. The productions, as beautiful and well done as they were, seemed to me to stop at the edge of the proscenium, as if they were literally contained in a shoebox.
Fleeing a disastrous foreign love affair, an aging aristocrat returns to the home where her husband died and her young son drowned. In less than a year, after her return, she loses the beloved estate where her family has lived for generations…. A benevolent King with a loving wife and a treasured best friend tortures himself by insisting he sees a love affair between them that does not exist. In the course of this jealous madness, he loses his wife, both of his children and his friend. These are but two of the multiple stories told within these two plays, so I confess I was expecting some emotional pathos.
Normally my expectations are pretty low for the theatre, but in this case, I wanted them to leap across the stage and reach into my heart! Is the Harvey just too big? But I’ve had that experience a few times in the theatre, with stories and characters I didn’t want to leave; it is possible. After all, we are breathing the same air. As Glenn Close once said, "I love the chemistry that can be created onstage between the actors and the audience. It's molecular even, the energies that can go back and forth."
No doubt these productions will be very well received as they tour the world. They deserve it, as the work is good and the project is noble. But the figurative gap I wanted them to bridge was the space between the characters living on the stage and me. And I know how difficult this is to achieve. But I can't stop thinking about how sometimes beauty can be a way into a story and at other times, it can keep us at arm’s length.
