REVIEW: New ‘Three Tall Women’ production enlivens Albee’s words
NEW YORK — Three Tall Women, which recently finished up its limited-engagement run on Broadway, featured stunning performances from its three central actors: Oscar and Tony winner Glenda Jackson, Tony winner Laurie Metcalf and Alison Pill. Edward Albee’s play received a sleek, effective staging from director Joe Mantello, and much of the acclaim is thanks to those towering performances on stage at the Golden Theatre.
For this production, Jackson came back to Broadway after several decades away. She had been a member of the British Parliament and returned to acting only a couple of years ago. Her performance as a 91/92-year-old trying to make sense of her conflicted feelings and variety of memories was layered and strong, hitting each of Albee’s linguistic notes. Even when the dialogue from the famous scribe strayed toward difficult topics (and not the best writing), Jackson persevered and seemingly enjoyed the conversational hurdles on the Golden stage.
Thankfully for New Yorkers who missed her Tony-winning performance, Jackson will return to Broadway in King Lear next year.
Metcalf is one of this generation’s most cherished theater stars. She may be part of the headline-grabbing Roseanne TV series, but New York theatergoers know her well for many touching, hilarious performances in Midtown Manhattan. Last year, she won a Tony for A Doll’s House, Part 2, and she received a second (and deserved) win this year for Three Tall Women.
In Act I of the play, Metcalf played an unnamed character who is helping out Jackson with the daily tasks of life. In the second act, she switched roles and became a younger version of Jackson’s character. At first, the dramatic shift from Albee can be jarring, but this is Albee, after all. Jarring shifts are expected.
Metcalf played both roles with a physicality, strength and humor that made the performance unforgettable and often electric. She has a way of flailing her arms, rocking back and forth on her feet and hitting the emphasis on a good one-liner. May she never leave the spotlight of Broadway.
Pill was also powerful in her double roles: first as a lawyer helping Jackson’s character, and second as the youngest version of Jackson’s character. The second act was where Pill came into her own, showing her clear talents for acting. Her looks of dismay at Metcalf’s portrayal and Jackson’s portrayal were sad and realistic; her character realized she was headed down a road and unable to change her trajectory. Each of the other characters’ faults would become her faults in due time.
Albee wrote Three Tall Women as a commentary on his own mother, and with the play he also deals with themes of memory, aging, homophobia and gender differences. His plays are exquisitely layered and wonderfully complex, yet always entertaining and easy to follow, but it takes skilled actors to understand his roles and a skilled director to interpret his intentions. The late playwright was given a first-rate company and first-rate maestro for this production of Three Tall Women. This one will not soon be forgotten.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Three Tall Women, by Edward Albee and directed by Joe Mantello, starred Glenda Jackson, Laurie Metcalf and Alison Pill. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes. Completed its run at the Golden Theatre in New York City. Rating: 
