Hannah Yelland, above, as Laura and Tristan Sturrock as Alec on the screen in the play " Brief Encounter" at St. Ann's Warehouse in New York City on December 2, 2009. (Photo by Sara Krulwich/The New York Times)
The play about the movie has landed stateside, and one key critic loves it. "Brief Encounter," the British production that pays loving tribute to the classic 1940s movie of the same title, opened Dec. 8 at St. Ann's Warehouse in New York. It will make just three stops on a U.S. tour that includes the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, where it runs in the Proscenium Feb. 11-April 3.
The Kneehigh Theater show features live actors merged at times with film interludes. It is directed by Emma Rice, based on the 1945 movie, directed by David Lean, which was based on "Still Life," the 1930s play by Noel Coward.
Writing in the New York Times, critic Ben Brantley called the show "captivating," and said it could make even the jaded and hardhearted feel like swooning romantically.
Writes Brantely: "Before we know it, 'Brief Encounter' has become a surpassingly charming meditation on the forms we use for dealing with that dangerous phenomenon called love, including watching films like 'Brief Encounter.'"
Go here for the full review.
Hannah Yelland, swinging from the chandelier, as Laura and Tristan Sturrock as Alec in the play " Brief Encounter" at St. Ann's Warehouse in New York City on December 2, 2009. (Sara Krulwich/The New York Times)
