Isabelle Huppert leading off-broadway play in February

Previews start in 10 days!

Tix are on sale!

So I saw this last night.

Huppert is terrific––a deeply fraught, perverse, often hilarious and playful performance. It’s a spiraling, highly energized, tragic portrayal of a mother who feels abandoned by her family. The play takes a surreal approach, with repeated sequencing and lapses of fantasy - motivated by the character's pill popping and slipping sanity. Huppert keeps it tense and engaging, but the play overall, the concept and dialogue, I found a little sophomoric. The supporting cast weren't anything special. Good thing, Huppert is on stage for the entire 80min duration (no intermission). It's also a very small venue so you can pick up on a lot of her micro touches.

Funny story - there was a woman and her young son sitting near me and I was thinking well this play is sort of slightly disturbing not very suitable for a kid, but later found out....it was Lolita Chammah and her six y/o son, Huppert's daughter and grandson!

Also........interestingly I watched Malina (1991) the night before, also stars Huppert, and I can't imagine a better complement to The Mother, with their surreal narrative structure and similarly mentally fraying protagonists. Blown away by both performances, but um, especially Malina, which I think is one of her very best - so extreme, unhinged, dangerous feeling too, and very, very funny.... I'd say it's a must see for fans. Movie itself is very well shot, but also very perplexing and overlong, definitely indebted to Resnais, a little Zulawski too maybe.