 |
 |
From Up Here Reviews
|
|
|
|
|
| What to Expect: |
| Acting: |
 |
| Music: |
|
| Production: |
 |
| Story: |
|
|
|
|
| Recommended For: |
|
Seniors: |
 |
|
Adults: |
|
|
Tourists: |
 |
|
Romantic Date: |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
"GRACE UNDER FIRE" Review by: Beth M, May 26, 2008 |
FROM UP HERE, BY LIZ FLAHIVE, presented by The Manhattan Theatre Club through June 8th
By Beth Mandelbaum
From Up Here is an extremely well acted and well written play about the impact on a family of a teenager’s threatening behavior in his high school, a theme extremely relevant to our times. This play was taken on by the Manhattan Theater Club when Kenneth Lonergan’s play The Starry Messenger had to be dropped from its roster. ... read more From Up Here offers audiences the opportunity to see the work of 28 year old playwright Liz Flahive, whose considerable talents are displayed to fine effect in the play. As a strong supporter of the work of promising young playwrights, I was delighted to experience her work, which I found as genuinely comical as it was dark. And extremely appropriate to From Up Here, Ms. Flahive draws on her previous experience in her work which gives her a deep understanding of teenagers and family dynamics. I will look forward to watching her development as a playwright.
The story begins with the frazzled preparations for son Kenny’s first day back at school after the incident (which is not immediately revealed), as he undergoes the humiliating search of his backpack by his well-meaning step father of one year, Daniel. Mother Grace, wonderfully acted by the ever amazing Julie White, is frantically running about the kitchen doing everything possible to get Kenny off to school with a supportive send off.
Kenny also has the rather daunting task of having to write an apology for his actions, which he will be presenting to the entire school and members of the community. Tobias Segal does an excellent job in the role of Kenny. He so vividly and realistically portrays this troubled teenager, who, while so often silent, gives us a very clear sense of his inner seething and emotional distress, especially through body language and the intonations of his voice.
And all of the actors do an excellent job of realistically portraying the family members as they struggle to cope with an extraordinarily difficult situation.
Mother Grace is visibly stressed out, looking extremely thin and gaunt, her hair unwashed, and is increasing and very understandably pushed beyond her limits as the play progresses. The words “Grace Under Fire,” the title of a television sitcom, kept coming to mind. Sister Lauren, who has a reputation for teenage promiscuity, and who can take jibes at her brother for what he has done, also shows a highly compassionate side to her personality when she sits with her deeply distressed and extraordinarily uncomfortable brother in the school cafeteria on this first day back, She is highly protective and supportive of Kenny.
From Up Here can reasonably be “categorized” as one of the many plays about “dysfunctional families” that have graced Broadway and off Broadway this season. But one of the special aspects of From Up Here is that this is also a play about healing and coming together, rather that the disintegration of the family that generally goes along with this genre of play. This play offers a sense of hope that families can survive deeply difficult and wrenching experiences. It is a story of genuine forgiveness and ultimate understanding. This is what the journey of Up From Here would seem to be about.
There are certain key aspects of this play that resonated very deeply with me on a personal level. One was the great degree of provocation and humiliation that pushed Kenny to act as he did. The other was Grace’s emotional meltdown as a result of way too much stress in her life. I can, perhaps unfortunately, relate to both from my own life experience. I can very much relate to being stressed to the point of meltdown and also “bullied,” for want of a better word, to the point of wishing that I could take extreme action. However, unlike Kenny, I have never acted on my thoughts and impulses, and would like t |
|
|
My recommendation:
Go see if you get a chance
|
| Acting: |
|
| Production: |
|
| Story: |
|
I saw this show with:
Alone
|
Recommended for:
Seniors, Adults
|
|
|
|
|
| 2 |
From Up Here Review by: Tom, Apr 28, 2008 |
have a hard time imagining myself ever getting enough of Julie White. After her Tony-winning turn in "The Little Dog Laughed" and her guest spot as a highly-neurotic Hollywood producer in Alan Ball's HBO series "Six Feet Under," I'm ready to RSVP to any party she wants to invite me to. Even "From Up Here," the new, rather strident play at Manhattan Theater Club.
Briefly, "From Up Here" is the story of several very wounded people trying to ... read more figure out how to heal each other. It's just that some of the character's approach to healing (especially the aforementioned Miss White's character, Grace) has all the delicacy of a medieval barber bleeding his patients to let the ill humours escape.
Grace is the mother of Kenny, the most wounded (though in some ways the most sane) of this bunch. Through a series of clues dropped during the first 20 minutes or so, we learn that Kenny had threatened Columbine-like violence at his high school, and is now being mainstreamed back into the school. (A plot point that stretches credibility nearly to the breaking point for me.) We first meet Kenny on his first morning heading back to school.
Along the way, Kenny's little sister Lauren learns she has a suitor, a senior with a deep crush on her, which he expresses through a non-stop verbosity that he interrupts only to sing the twisted but sincere songs he has written for her. Grace's sister, Caroline turns up at the family home unannounced, returning from trekking in Nepal.
The show has some serious problems, but I found it oddly compelling, not least because of Julie White. No one's really happy, but no one wants to give up on the hope of one day being happy, either. So they all struggle and stumble their way toward some stable place from which to build a life. As the play opens, Aunt Caroline is at the end of her rope -- literally, hanging from a harness while on a Himalayan climb. By the time curtain falls, she's traveling once again, but at least this time we see her with her feet planted firmly on the ground. I'm not sure Grace or Kenny can say the same.
by Tom Bestor |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 3 |
Fabulous Review by: DramaQueen, Apr 14, 2008 |
| I saw this show in previews and it was fabulous. The cast as an ensemble is wonderful. Rarely, am I brought to tears in a show but this performance moved me. It has some very funnt scenes as well and captures high school angst mafnificently. I would highly recommend this show. It moves quickly and is powerful. |
|
|
My recommendation:
must see!
|
| Acting: |
|
| Music: |
|
| Production: |
|
| Story: |
|
I saw this show with:
Spouse/Partner
|
Recommended for:
Romantic Date, Seniors, Tourists
|
|
|
|
|
|
| * Review is an opinion of a BroadwayBox user and not that of BroadwayBox.com and BroadwayBox, Inc. |
|
