Friday, September 3, 2010

Play of the Week: Late: a Cowboy Play

Last week Piven closed a production of one of Sarah Ruhl's earlier plays. While it is clear that this blogger has a preference toward Ms. Ruhl's work, this was not one of the better plays in her cannon. That, however, did not spoil the night as Piven's show was well played and particularly well acted.

The cast was lead by Polly Noonan, a good friend of Ruhl's and perhaps the best actor of her texts out there. This was not my first experience with Noonan (I saw her in both Eurydice and Dead Man's Cell Phone) but this was one of her best performances. Noonan is able to transcend the difficult text, maintain a breathy naiveté, and make the words sound like normal speech; no easy feat. While she always has had a strong command of the language, this time she perfected it.

While not one of her best. This play is definitely worth the read. It provides some nice context to Ruhl both as a person and to the rest of her work.


Happy Birthday:
Caryl Churchill (b. 1938)
Helen Wagner (1918-2010)
Sally Benson (1897-1972)

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