January 26, 2007

'Translations' revival impresses Broadway critics

"Translations," Brian Friel’s romantic play set in pre-potato famine Ireland, opened Thursday on Broadway to nearly unanimously enthusiatic reviews. The critics who loved it today gush with praise, excitedly slipping on phrases like "best living playwright." "one of the great plays of the 20th century," and "one of the great love scenes in English-speaking drama."

Written in 1980, the play tackles the trouble with language as British soldiers arrive in County Donegal with the goal of English-cizing the Gaelic place names for maps that will later be used for colonization, thus leading to "the troubles."

The production is directed by Tony-awarded Irishwoman Garry Hynes.

It plays through April 1 at the Biltmore Theatre, located at 261 W. 47th St., map. Tickets start at $26.25 for student rush seats, rising to $86.25.

The reviews:

Wall Street Journal - "The only time I don't think Brian Friel is the best living playwright is immediately after I've seen a play by Tom Stoppard. That both men should be represented on Broadway this season is a boon, and though Mr. Stoppard's 'Coast of Utopia' trilogy, being both new and spectacular, will likely get most of the ink, the Manhattan Theatre Club's revival of 'Translations,' directed by Garry Hynes, deserves equal time. This production of Mr. Friel's 1980 play, among the greatest written in the 20th century, is so comprehensively masterful that no critic, however enthusiastic, can do more than suggest its manifold virtues. Instead of reviewing it, I wish I could simply send you a ticket."

New York Times - "Ms. Hynes has in turn wisely entrusted Mr. Friel’s challenging play to a stageful of little-known but hugely talented actors, creating an ensemble of an extraordinarily high caliber and consistency. In their hands — on their tongues, I should say — 'Translations' is nothing short of glorious."

Variety - "Among the chief distinctions of Garry Hynes' marathon staging last season of the complete works of J.M. Synge was the profound cultural identity she brought to plays both major and minor, refortifying their already deep-rooted foundations in Irish history, language, spirit and character. That quality makes her an ideal director for Brian Friel's 1980 play 'Translations,' a passionately felt account of the 19th-century erosion of Irish national culture by colonizing British forces. Through expert modulation of tone, Hynes' superb production conveys a creeping sense of violation and loss, the drama's resonance amplified by its sobering echoes in the contemporary world."

Bloomberg - "In one of the most beautiful scenes ever written, Yolland and Maire enchantingly overcome the fact they lack a common language, a duet that, even without a balcony, matches the great love scenes of 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Cyrano de Bergerac.' Friel ingeniously conveys Gaelic by having the actors speak Irish-accented English, versus the high British spoken by and to the officers."

Post - "It can't, however, overcome the play's ramshackle structure, and one of those terribly Irish, O'Casey-style endings that leaves you up in the air with a sense of loss, without knowing quite what has happened."

Newsday - "The play always has been hard to follow at the beginning and hard to swallow at the abrupt end. Here, however, Friel's daring mixture of languages - Gaelic, English, Greek and Latin - is allowed to get more opaque than robust, and his characters often feel more like enthusiastic stage devices than vibrant individuals."

New York magazine - "Yet for all the passions in the script, the emotional side of this production rings oddly hollow. At one point the lieutenant and Maire woo each other solely by exchanging the names of Irish towns, the only words they both understand. What should have been the humanizing heart of the play is more admirable than moving. Some fault lies with a production that doesn’t capture Friel’s contrast between high-flown speech and prosaic reality."

USA Today - "Garry Hynes, the first woman to win a Tony Award for direction (via Martin McDonagh's 'The Beauty Queen of Leenane'), expertly directs Translations, which is anchored by a trio of superb performances"

Associated Press - "It is an extraordinary play, emotionally satisfying and intellectually bracing at the same time. And this splendid Broadway revival, a co-production of Manhattan Theatre Club and the McCarter Theatre Center in New Jersey, has been able to tap into both aspects."

Sun - "Mr. Friel, an incisive playwright whose wistful, vaguely Chekhovian works typically keep politics at arm's length, addresses cultural imperialism gingerly in his 1980 work, using a sputtering school in what comes to be called Ballybeg as a metaphor for the looming obsolescence of Irish culture. Director Garry Hynes follows his lead, crafting a well-paced, suitably raucous potboiler that slips in cultural commentary with admirable stealth. Not even a handful of over-the-top performances can dampen the bracing effect of her empathy for Mr. Friel's boisterous, doomed villagers."

Daily News - "Friel's drama, which made its U.S. debut 25 years ago at Manhattan Theatre Club, is by turns folksy and earthy and poetic and mythic. This soulful revival, which opened last night at the Biltmore Theatre in a co-production of MTC and the McCarter Theatre Center, fully taps its treasures."

Newark Star-Ledger - "While the well-grounded acting appears natural enough, there's also a heightened quality to the performances that illuminates the plaintive beauty of Friel's language and story. Without exception, Hynes' sure-footed ensemble sounds all the right notes of humor and sorrow found in Friel's touching play."

NY1 - "As staged by Garry Hynes, the Tony winning director of 'The Beauty Queen of Leenane,' the play is a bit tough to decipher at first. Between the brogue and the poetic passages, the experience is akin to learning a new language, a slow start followed by gradual understanding and eventually enlightened fluency. "

amNewYork - "Let's be honest: Brian Friel isn't for everyone, especially those looking only for a night of entertainment. Rather like George Bernard Shaw's 'Heartbreak House,' which received a Broadway revival in the fall, Friel's 1980 drama 'Translations' is a meditative, dense, frequently fascinating, but constantly frustrating play. Still, regardless of whether one is able to enjoy 'Translations,' it's clear it has received a magnificently polished staging at the Biltmore Theatre."

January 26, 2007 11:32 AM in Broadway, Romance

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