![]() “So when some of them finally do, it’s gorgeous and almost magical.” “These deeply flawed characters actually care about each other so much, but there are so many obstacles for them to express that love or connect with one another in real ways, however desperately or destructively,” said Joanie Schultz, who directed a 2013 production at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater. Throughout the intimate live piece - which is staged without the escape of an intermission - all five characters reveal truths to each other and the audience that raise the stakes of their potential bonds. “He’s not advocating anything, he’s just writing what he believes is true.” Hunter doesn’t shy away from any of the issues the characters are dealing with “but doesn’t bury you in either,” said Martin Benson, who directed a 2013 staging at South Coast Repertory. Throughout “The Whale,” Charlie is visited by his estranged and troubled daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink), and his frustrated ex-wife, Mary (Samantha Morton), both of whom Charlie abandoned when he ended his marriage and came out as gay Liz (Hong Chau), a conflicted caregiver who is also the sibling of Charlie’s late lover and Thomas (Ty Simpkins), a fundamentalist missionary who is far from home. The character is an amalgamation of Hunter’s past lives: as a closeted gay kid attending a fundamentalist Christian school in rural Idaho, a depressed adult who silently self-medicated with food, and an expository writing instructor for college freshmen (the piece’s heartbreakingly honest line “I think I need to accept that my life isn’t going to be very exciting” is an actual submission from one of Hunter’s students). ![]() Hunter from his own play, navigates a tricky line between empathy and exploitation. Movies Review: Does Brendan Fraser give a great performance in ‘The Whale’? It’s complicated.ĭarren Aronofsky’s intimate chamber drama, adapted by Samuel D.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |