This is the first play I have seen by Florian Zeller but I know of his work - all translated by Christopher Hampton in the UK. While I appreciate what he is trying to do with the form, bending narrative structures and giving you characters who might not be the most trustworthy of narrators, however THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM feels annoyingly slight, like a writer cruising on his tricks, thinking "Oh I can do the same to this situation" rather than it feeling in anyway new and revelatory; just narrative guessing games for the sake of it.
Andre and Madeleine have been married for over 50 years and have two daughters. Andre is beginning to show signs of confusion and although both daughters have arrived at the family home at the same time, he is vague as to why. Marianne wanders in and out speaking to the family as she busies herself with dinner but the emphasis is on Andre who listens but doesn't really take in what his daughters are saying about a house that they have seen which might suit him better. They even bring home a woman who vaguely knows Andre and Marianne - much to the latter's consternation as she has always thought she had been in an affair with Andre once - to talk about the house. An appearance from the younger daughter's latest boyfriend who is a estate agent only makes the situation clearer to all but Andre.
It very soon becomes apparent (through the play and knowledge of Zeller's past work) that one of the couple has died - but which one? I will not be the spoilsport and reveal who but it's all quite obvious really. So in actual fact, I left thinking that the play could have been shorter, there seemed to be a lot of re-stating what was fairly obvious before, so much so that at times I felt like saying "Yes we get it, that person is dead!!"
Yes the play reverberates once the curtain has come down, but I think that has more to do with Jonathan Kent's taut direction - despite the several 'interludes' to show time passing - and of course his remarkable lead performers. That said, credit is due to the fine supporting performances from Amanda Drew and Anna Madeley as the concerned daughters but Lucy Cohu is, as per, a trifle over-ripe as the mysterious friend of the family.
Needless to say there was enough coughing for the duration of the play to make it seem like Scutari Hospital on a wet Wednesday, but as a tribute to Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins you could hear a pin drop in their scenes together, especially the final scene when all the threads come together. To be honest, it is this final scene that has stayed with me as it was so beautifully pitched and played.
Jonathan Pryce was remarkable and heartbreaking as Andre, a man slowly losing himself in his own mind, given to panicked confusion as he gets stuck in painful repetitions of a sentence, not able to comprehend recent events despite the clues in front of him. Onstage for most of it's running time, Pryce radiated an intense charisma. Eileen Atkins was frustratingly under-used, drifting in and out of the action to drop some withering lines but as I said, the last scene was breathtaking as she took flight with a warm delicacy as Madeleine reminded Andre that she once said she would never leave him.
I'm glad I got the see these two favorite performers again on stage, it was just a shame the play was so maddeningly slight.
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