KURIER

An Emotional Wrestling Match
European Premiere of „Annapurna“, by Sharr White at Vienna‘s English Theatre.

Love is a bit like climbing an 8.000er: everyone is aiming for the summit, but not all survive the experience without the odd wound to show for it.(…)

Vienna’s English Theatre opens the new season with a European premiere: Sharr White’s two-hander, „Annapurna”, (directed by Adrienne Ferguson), first performed in San Francisco in 2011; the play has already triumphed in theatres throughout the USA. This is hardly surprising, for the dialogue is powerful, shockingly blunt and moving; at the same time it is witty and emotional. The play opens to a full view of Ulysses’ backside, the ensuing emotional striptease carries on in this vein nonstop for some 90 minutes. The excellent cast make sure that this harsh survey of a failed love has, nevertheless, its comical moments; indeed, they lend spice to what is otherwise a heavyweight match. Howard Nightingall is Ulysses: suffering from pulmonary emphysema, he is nearing the end of his life, but still working on his epic poem, „Annapurna“. Kate Gleason, who received the True West Performance Award for her performance as Emma, is the disillusioned woman who has to accept that emotions she has long-since come to terms with can suddenly return forcefully to the fore.

KURIER-Wertung: ****

Werner Rosenberger
10.09.2015

DIE PRESSE

Breathless in a run-down trailer: psycho-drama in the Rocky Mountains
Sharr White’s drama „Annapurna“, directed by Adrienne Ferguson, is fully convincing at its European premiere in Vienna, especially in the powerful finale.

(…) “Annapurna” is the name of the play by US dramatist, Sharr White, which was first performed in San Francisco in 2011 and has now opened in Vienna; it is a „well-made play“ with comic moments but melancholy prevails. Adrienne Ferguson directs concisely and thus effectively. This chamber piece for two actors reflects the pitfalls besetting human relationships; one single mistake can affect our lives in a major way, lead to tragedy (…)

After a period of aggressive counter accusations – played a touch tamely – a process of setting things to rights sets in, culminating in a grand finale of self-discovery. Emma sets about cleaning the filthy apartment, whilst Ulysses cynically demonstrates both poverty and obduracy. As the performance progresses, this marriage drama gains both in intensity and in quality; with the exception of the one or other inconsistency, the performers deliver their punch-lines tellingly. (…)

Norbert Mayer
10.09.2015