THE HANGOVER REPORT – Billie Piper scintillates in Simon Stone’s relentless, superbly staged YERMA

Billie Piper in Simon Stone's "Yerma" at the Park Avenue Armory.

Billie Piper in Simon Stone’s “Yerma” at the Park Avenue Armory.

I recently had a chance to catch the relentless London import Yerma at the Park Avenue Armory. The play is Simon Stone’s harrowing contemporary update of Federico García Lorca’s 1934 play about a woman driven to extremities upon years of failed attempts at pregnancy. In the central role, the scintillating Billie Piper reprises her Olivier Award-winning performance, and boy is it a stunner. Her descent into the depths of human despair is one of the most compelling things I’ve seen this season, and certainly one of the most memorable New York stage debuts I’ve recently had the privilege of covering.

The success of the production is only in part Ms. Piper’s doing. I would also credit Mr. Stone’s stylish, tightly packaged staging, one of the most brilliantly designed and executed currently to be found in New York. Particularly, set designer Lizzie Clachan and music an sound designer Stefan Gregory have set new standards in their respective fields. Aside from Ms. Piper, the rest of the cast – comprised of Maureen Beattie, Brendan Cowell, John MacMillan, Charlotte Randle, and Thalissa Teixeira – are also holdovers from the Young Vic run, and they’re totally terrific.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

 

YERMA
Off-Broadway, Play
Park Avenue Armory, in collaboration with the Young Vic
1 hour, 40 minutes (without an intermission)
Through April 21

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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