Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge come to the Hudson Theatre on Broadway July 26th through September 29th.
Meet Alex, a photographer on a holiday with his family in the south of France. Meet Abe, a music producer with a baby on the way. Two men - both fathers, husbands, and sons - take us on a journey you will never forget.
The finest actors of their generation, Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal (Sunday In The Park With George) and Tony Award nominee Tom Sturridge (1984), had audiences roaring to their feet at the sold-out engagement at The Public Theater. Now Sea Wall/A Life, from the visionary creative team behind The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Constellations and A Doll's House, comes to Broadway.
At one point in Sea Wall, Alex refers to the cruelest thing he ever said; in A Life, Abe mentions the kindest thing anyone ever said to him. The difference between these two moments-the mystery and pain of the first, the sheer banality of the second-is the difference between the two components of this uneven evening.
When I reviewed the production in February during its Public Theatre engagement, I was struck by the emotional impact of the performances, the writing and Carrie Cracknell's direction. All of that stands, but seeing it again, this time in the larger Broadway venue, I noticed the many moments of humor that Gyllenhaal and Sturridge pull off so efficiently. Gyllenhaal, in particular, seems to have loosened up a bit in his role, superbly providing quicksilver shifts in tone and mood. Sturridge, in the more unrelenting Sea Wall, couldn't get any better than he was Off Broadway. Assuming the show's producers invite Tony voters to this strictly limited nine-week engagement, either actor could stake an early claim on next year's trophy nominations.
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