All That Fall – Location, Tickets, Reviews
Originally commissioned by the BBC as a radio play, Samuel Beckett’s All That Fall first aired in 1957. The adaption currently running at 59E59 Theaters comes to New York following a successful run in London. Directed by Trevor Nunn, it features acting legends Eileen Atkins and Michael Gambon (Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies).
Set in a small Irish farm town, the play follows Mrs. Rooney, debilitated by an arthritic, ailing frame, on a slow journey to the train station to pick up her blind, cantankerous husband. Along the way, she converses with various townspeople, including a man toting a dung cart and Miss Fitt, an uptight, devout spinster. A mysterious train delay occurs, and the laughs come to a halt when Mrs. Rooney has a sudden, chilling realization.
The production earned strong reviews on this side of the pond as well. Time Out New York wrote that Atkins and Gambon “Shine bright in the dark;” the New York Post called it “stunning”; and the New York Times said “you’re unlikely to find a more salty or succinct embodiment of [Beckett’s] fathomless sense of humor than this 75-minute production.” We understand the appeal: Beckett’s script delivers a poignant perspective on loss, grief, and old age, and Gambon and Atkins are indeed magnificent.
But, honestly, we found it kind of boring. It might be that we’re just too young to appreciate the show’s quips on aging or not sophisticated enough to see the art in the performance. Due to Beckett’s own restrictions that the show be performed as a “radio play,” the actors hold on to their scripts throughout the show. That might be cool to some, but we found it distracting.
Based on the reviews, we couldn’t recommend it more highly for entertaining your grandparents over Thanksgiving.
LOCATION
59E59 Theaters
59 East 59th Street
New York City
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RUNNING TIME
1 hour and 15 minutes, no intermission
TICKETS
Regular price: $70.00 (click here for tickets)
Member price: $45.00
DATES
Performances through December 8, 2013
REVIEWS
New York Times
Beckett wasn’t wrong to think that ‘All That Fall’ should be heard and not seen. The play’s mythic side, its sense of eternity within the everyday, grows more naturally in our imaginations without literal physical representation.
Huffington Post
That Beckett can eek out humor from a litany of woes encapsulates his worldview: Life is harsh; every now and again, a glimmer of hope appears amid the adversity. For Mrs. Rooney, it’s her rural Irish neighbors, though some, like Mrs. Fit (Catherine Cusack), have a peculiar aura of prim religiosity.
Time Out New York
The two performers astound with their economy of movement, the musicality of their voices (he’s a cello, she an oboe) and how their intonations unlock volumes of nuance in Beckett’s spare tragicomic text. Enacting a piece originally written for voice only, they shine bright in the dark.
Entertainment Weekly
It’s a shame that Halloween has come and gone, because Trevor Nunn’s expert, no-frills remounting of Samuel Beckett’s 1957 radio play ‘All That Fall’ truly produces shivers.
New York Post
The stars are superb, with Atkins mining her character’s eccentricities with poignancy and wit. And Gambon is devastating, especially in the chillingly ambiguous final moments, when he unleashes an anguished primal howl that will send shivers up your spine.
Theater Mania
What happens when the sound of their feet dragging limply behind them and the torrents of rain coming down are just effects over speakers? You’re left with actors doing what they do best, without massive set pieces, eye-crossing projections, and other trappings of modern technology.
Village Voice
Nunn’s production, which apes its radio origins with plentiful microphones, clutched scripts, and no set to speak of, adopts a doleful pace. He allows the actors to make a meal of each line — no appetizer, no dessert, just morose main courses. And yet, the cruel comedy remains. In a world this sore and hard, what else can you do but laugh?
Stage and Cinema
There are excellent reasons to see this show: The play itself is a masterpiece that is unlikely to be performed very often – due in part to the virtual extinction of radio theater and in part to the restrictions placed on its staging by Beckett’s estate; Mr. Gambon, who should never be missed in anything; Ms. Atkins, who delivers a rich, multi-layered portrayal; and the rest of the cast, all of whom turn in unassailable performances.
Theater Pizzazz
Nunn has taken his perfect actors and animated them just enough to justify the fact that they are on a stage and not in a radio studio. He has real gems in his two leads, Ms. Atkins and Mr. Gambon . . .
Mildly Bitter
Eileen Atkins can readily dismiss people, places, or things with just a cockeyed look. We are lucky enough to get to see her face in this staged adaptation…Radio alone would not have done her performance justice.
L Magazine
The actors carry scripts, and though this is part of the radio station concept, it has the unfortunate effect of suggesting a staged reading rather than a full production. That aside, this version gets to the core of the play because Atkins and Gambon are such enormous talents, and this is the richest possible material for them.
CAST & CREW
(partial list)
Written by Samuel Beckett
Directed by Trevor Nunn
Featuring Eileen Atkins, Michael Gambon, Billy Carter, Ruairi Conaghan, Trevor Cooper, Catherine Cusack, Frank Grimes, and James Hayes