Betrayal - Bye, Bye...

[cassandra]

In a recent post I mentioned some positive comments from readers in response to David Edelstein’s article about Betrayal in Vulture (http://www.vulture.com/2013/08/rachel-w ... rayal.html). Some more very favourable comments, which I trust are genuine, were posted today – here is a selection:

‘Most people don’t realize that Craig is a classically trained actor with real theatre chops. I suppose when you take up the mantle of James Bond, that’s inevitable. But this show is going to change that very fast…. Anyone who doesn’t yet know what Craig is capable of (I think he’s one of the finest dramatic actors of his generation) will know in short order. I can’t wait to see this.’

‘Great actors are more than just emotional technicians, they bring a piece of themselves to the part. I don’t really care about the lives of Weisz and Craig off stage, but no doubt they will bring the same intelligence, wit, natural play, and integrity that they display in this article to their performances in the show. In any case, Betrayal is a rich play, by the time you’ve drilled ten layers down into it the question of whether or not the actors are married to each other probably will be far from anyone’s mind.’

‘It’s not just that Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig are two phenomenally beautifully human beings. As we’re reminded every time Weisz steals an otherwise mediocre Bourne entry, or Craig makes James Bond feel fresh and iconic again with a quick straightening of the cuffs, they’re both damn good actors too. Seizing the chance to see them (together) digging into Harold Pinter as the guiding hand of Mike Nichols helps things along is a no-brainer.’

‘Everything about this is refreshing, almost bracingly so. Such a treat to read about actors who regard the profession as more than a vehicle for self-promotion. The thought and emotion that these three have put behind their roles—to say nothing of all that Nichols has done—gives me every confidence that this will be unmissable theatre.’

‘Yeah, Craig has all but cornered the market on a certain style of acting: he brings a brooding, watchful, fierce intelligence to parts that are sometimes not deserving of such scrupulous attention. I remember seeing him in Enduring Love – based on a book by another British master, Ian McEwan – and marveling at the subtlety he brought to the lead role. You can watch him think, see him puzzle things through.
He’s perfectly suited to the part of Robert. It’s almost like symbiosis.’

‘Cheers, Mr. Edelstein, for a thoughtful, well-reported article. I understand why people want to know more about what makes the Craig/Weisz marriage tick. They seem, in their beauty, their passion, and their mastery of their craft, to have figured out something that we mere mortals have not. Shrewd of them, then, to keep the curtains drawn: the mystery between them is endlessly compelling. I’m sure a great deal of the erotic charge, to say nothing of the intellectual one, will make it to the stage. I’ll be in the first row.’

‘There’s something unflinchingly sexy about this concept: a real-life husband and wife, both gorgeous and at the peak of their powers, playing a husband and wife whose marriage is in constant tumult. If Mr. Edelstein’s interviews are any indication, this is going to be complex, dynamic, gimlet-eyed theatre!’

[Germangirl]

NICE! Thanks Cass
Seems there ARE people out there, who get them right.

[Sylvia's girl]

A few more cpmments from the Vulture article...

So cool to read about Craig's stroke of genius on the Skyfall set. Attention to detail: that's the name of the game. Would love to see him on Broadway. Hope I do!!

Has it really been three years since Weisz played Blanche in Streetcar? The stage needs her back. I remember that production vividly—I thought I'd had my fill of Tennessee Williams and my husband practically had to drag me. I came out eating my words and vowing to see Rachel Weisz in anything and everything. Even, yes, The Bourne Legacy. And I don't regret it!

@gunderson - Right. I had to take my kids to see Oz the Great and Powerful. Whenever Weisz was onscreen I could almost forget that it was a children's film. What a privilege it will be to see her in material worthy of her skills. Pinter is perfect for her.

Such a pleasure to read the words of intelligent, dedicated, contemplative entertainers on a day when the celebrity news cycle has been dominated by, shall we say, less high-minded fare. Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz exude a class and gravitas that puts them head and shoulders above almost everyone in the industry. I'll always root for them.

Yeah, I'd pay good money for a DVD of those table reads. Watching a couple of the best actors around (I'm sure Rafe Spall is excellent, I just don't know his work that well yet) talk with one of the best directors around about one of the best playwrights ever would be pretty amazing.


It’s true….since Craig and Weisz are so circumspect about their married life, it makes the prospect of their starring in Betrayal completely tantalizing. It’s as if they’re willing to explore all the realest most difficult and toughest themes about marriage only in the context of what they do so well—it’s fascinating that they’re willing to take a risk and venture into this thematic territory in the theatre, even as they’re reluctant to in the press. I, for one, am dying to see this.

[Germangirl]

Great.

[Sylvia's girl]

PLAY BY PLAY [VIDEO]: Broadway's Hottest Tickets

http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story ... st-tickets

[Germangirl]

http://broadwaysbestshows.com/buzz/news ... ens-sep-3/

[Sylvia's girl]

The footlights offer a feast
Autumn productions include Pinter, Beckett and the Bard

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/t ... xSF2GxvpBL

[Germangirl]

Mike Riedel is getting soft. Lets hope, he sticks to being nice.

[Vynera]

The footlights offer a feast
Autumn productions include Pinter, Beckett and the Bard

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/t ... xSF2GxvpBL

Daniel looks photoshopped onto that picture in the article

[cassandra]

It's a photo taken in March 2013 when he launched the new Range Rover Sport in NY. There seem to be high expectations for 'Betrayal', I hope it's a great success.

[cassandra]

Two's Company, Three's a Show.

http://theater.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/t ... 1&_r=1&hpw&

There's a nice photo, but Daniel has a beard.

[Sylvia's girl]

Two's Company, Three's a Show

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sh ... -york.html

There's a nice photo, but Daniel has a beard.

Did you mean this?

http://theater.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/t ... 1&_r=1&hpw&

[cassandra]

Thanks, SG. I was in a great rush (I'm at work) and posted an old link.

[Sylvia's girl]

Thanks, SG. I was in a great rush (I'm at work) and posted an old link.

No worries, it's a great interview.

[Germangirl]

So - he has a beard for the play. But I like him in this pic. Vvey handsome. A really great interview with some nice, assuring passages.

In our interview, I had been prepared for Pinteresque silences and indirection; Mr. Craig has been known to play the sulky brute with interrogators. But instead, he’s funny, smart, charming and, for him, remarkably open. He even seems a bit shy, admitting he’s afraid of extemporaneous public speaking because, he says, “I lose verbs.” (and don't we know That? )

The residue of smoke in the room puts the occasional smoker in a good mood. He’s dressed in jeans and a polo shirt, with tattoos peaking beneath the sleeves, and sporting a salt-and-pepper beard he’s grown for the part.

Does he recall a glimmer in 1994 when they acted in the steamy play “Les Grandes Horizontales,” about a 19th-century Communard lolling about with four French courtesans, one of them played by Ms. Weisz?

“I’d rather not say,” he replies. “But we’re together, so maybe there’s a clue in that.” (Later, Ms. Weisz offers a radiant yes, adding that because the cast members improvised the play, “we would have to literally spend the day trying to seduce him.” She goes on, “It was really hard work, as you can imagine.”)

I ask him if his marriage to Ms. Weisz has changed him. “Yeah, for the better,” he says. “I’m far happier than I’ve been for many years. I think finding the right person and being with the right person is probably the answer to most things.”

As for bonding in an industry swirling with insecurity and narcissism, he knows there are pitfalls. “But I don’t see them,” he says. “There will be problems, and they’ll be no bigger or less. We’ll have to figure it out like any other married couple, to the benefit of both of us, not just one.”

Like her husband, Ms. Weisz is funny and self-effacing, casually ravishing in a 10-year-old Narciso Rodriguez emerald dress.

She says she doesn’t find it sad, as someone who seems madly in love, to be in a play that’s mad at love, with a structure that underscores that passion wanes even as it blooms. “Happiness writes white, someone told me that,” she says, adding that drama needs edge.

“It’s a contract, marriage,” she says finally. “There’s something very certain about the word ‘husband.’ There are infinite ways to interpret Emma. But husband is husband.” And with her luminous smile, she concludes about marriage, “I love it.”