Conor McPherson has adapted Strindberg’s play in plain-spoken English which makes the most of the play’s barbed Scandinavian wit. But the challenge for director Victoria Clark is the same that has plagued all who tackle this tricky story: Do you play it for tragedy or comedy, melodrama or farce?
Except for a few moments of stylized choreography between scenes to suggest the “dance” that is about to unfold, Clark’s cast leans toward naturalism. This deprives the play of some of its comedic power, alas, and it leads Beck to underplay Alice’s theatricality. She is a former actress, after all, but you seldom see that spark of play-acting for either her husband or for Gustav, her one realistic avenue of escape.
This is a level of abstraction that makes “The Dance of Death” a tricky play to pull off — how do you dramatize an “evil force” that keeps the central characters rooted to a relationship that is obviously rotten for them both? Even Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren struggled in a 2001 Broadway revival.
Despite their best efforts, Clark and her talented cast aren’t able to resolve this play’s many contradictions. But there are pleasures to be found in the twisted pas de deux between two lovers who may be better matched than they would ever care to admit.
Read the full review on TheWrap.