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I ran the New York marathon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No kidding. I have a little button that they handed me at the finish.
Of Tom Stoppard’s trilogy, “The Coast of Utopia,” that is.
Oh, come on! You did not think I was talking about THAT marathon, did you? Heavens, no. I ran around Central Park when I was in New York, April 18-23, but most of the time I was in the theater.
In fact, for most all of last Saturday, I watching Stoppard’s magnum opus about 19th-century Russian intellectuals and the dawn of socialism. I began with “Voyage” at 11 a.m. on a sparkling crisp morning at Lincoln Center — and wrapped up around 11 p.m. after catching “Shipwreck” and “Salvage.”
I spent nine hours in the dark — with 46 actors playing 70 roles, spanning the time period from 1835-1868. A very long journey, indeed, but a starry, satisfying, unforgettable and wholly opulent one. “Starry” as in the constellation of Ethan Hawke, Billy Crudup and Brian F. O’Byrne. “Opulent” as in sets by Bob Crowley (“Aida,” “The History Boys”) and Scott Pask (“The Pillowman”).
I’m talking about images that got applause before a single word was spoken. I’m talking about an enormous crystal Onion Dome hanging from the ceiling like some Dale Chihuly chandelier. I’m talking about a tableau vivant representing what looked liked hundreds and hundreds of serfs. (Call it the magic of theater.)
This soul-bondage is Stoppard’s undying theme and metaphor. Freedom is the passion that consumes his characters. Born rich, owners of thousands of “souls” (their term for serfs), these were the upper-class Russian land owners who knew the old order was crumbling.
Marx and Turgenev are in the play. Pushkin makes a cameo or two. But Stoppard writes around a real-life triumvirate of lesser known figures: the literary critic Vissarion Belinsky (Crudup); the wildly erractic political scoundrel Michael Bakunin (Ethan Hawke) and the fabulously wealthy Alexander Herzen (O’Byrne), who had to smuggle his money from Russia to Paris to London, and had a tragic personal life.
These were the figures for whom the word “intelligentsia” was coined, and Stoppard is in his element on this vast landscape of ideas and poetry. There’s a Chekhovian touch to his epic, a good bit of George Sand and sex (she was worshipped by this milieu) and maybe a touch of George Eliot.
OK . So was it a taxing marathon? Yes and no. There were moments when I forgot I was watching a play - just like there are moments in the meditative state of running when you forget. But part two - “Shipwreck” — drags, and O’Byrne’s Irish cadences clash with the other accents — at first. Eventually, the Tony Award winner (“Frozen”) finds his way and turns his complex character into something kind of loveable.
Consumer tip: If you only have time to see one of the plays, see part one, “Voyage.” If you can see two, read the synopsis of “ Shipwreck” in your program and get a ticket for “Salvage.”
As for marathons, if you must journey 26 miles, take a car. I’d rather be sitting still, with Stoppard. Seeing the trilogy is no more taxing than taking in a full day at Charleston’s Spoleto Festival, and the atmosphere around Lincoln Center and its nearby restaurants was just as festive.
Through May 13. The Vivian Beaumont at Lincoln Center. 800.432.7250. lct.org
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