A Review of the Nightingale, from Marion Dreyfus
The NightingaleWritten and performed by Lynn Redgrave
At the City Center, West 55th Street/off Avenue of the Americas
Lynn Redgrave in The Nightingale is moving, intense, stringently talented in a generational true saga of the Redgraves. Tough, teary, even radiant.
Although she could, she does not stoop to detail her shocking marital dissolution from a husband of 32 years who was cavorting with his own daughter-in-law. Nor does she dwell on her Stage IV cancer, from which she has emerged less mobile but still a brilliant, moving actress, no matter how confined her movements. Nor does she reference the tragic ski-accident death of her niece last year, Natassia (wife of Liam Neeson).
Redgrave effects personnae changes by a shift in voice, lighting and speed of delivery. The play runs 85 minutes without intermission.
Not an easy visit, but a powerful and worthy experience of theatre, with one of our iconic greats.