I managed to find this very rare video from a Canadian seller, and spent more money than I could spare to get it. For the most part, I was glad I did. As a Shaw fan, I was thrilled to get to see one of his lesser known works performed by a top-notch cast.
Rex Harrison was in rare form as Captain Shotover, playing well not only with Amy Irving (in her Broadway debut as Ellie Dunn) but with the formidable Rosemary Harry as the airy, yet surprisingly complex Hesione Hushabye. Harrison captured not only the humor, but the pathos of this man who has seen better years and still has the gumption to grasp at happiness in the face of a world quite madder than he himself has become. Theatrical diva Rosemary Harris is brilliant as Hesione, grand and sweeping like a flock of butterflies, yet still a strong enough character to anchor the play. She is the glue that holds the family together, and she is as warm and sensual as her sister Ariadne (Dana Ivey) is cold and manipulative. Even so, in her own unconventional way, she can be as manipulative as her sister when she wants to be.
Dana Ivey, who garnered one of her two Tony nominations in 1984 for her work in this play, was cast somewhat against type as man-killer Ariadne Utterwood. She pulled off the haughty, shallow, angry character quite well, managing a sort of frigid sexuality that drives her suitors to distraction. But she's Ivey through and through, and there's more bite than nibble to this siren.
That being said, no one in the cast could stand against the utter domination of Harris' and Harrison's bravura performances. Difficult to find, but Heartbreak House is definitely worth the search for serious theater fans.
Rex Harrison was in rare form as Captain Shotover, playing well not only with Amy Irving (in her Broadway debut as Ellie Dunn) but with the formidable Rosemary Harry as the airy, yet surprisingly complex Hesione Hushabye. Harrison captured not only the humor, but the pathos of this man who has seen better years and still has the gumption to grasp at happiness in the face of a world quite madder than he himself has become. Theatrical diva Rosemary Harris is brilliant as Hesione, grand and sweeping like a flock of butterflies, yet still a strong enough character to anchor the play. She is the glue that holds the family together, and she is as warm and sensual as her sister Ariadne (Dana Ivey) is cold and manipulative. Even so, in her own unconventional way, she can be as manipulative as her sister when she wants to be.
Dana Ivey, who garnered one of her two Tony nominations in 1984 for her work in this play, was cast somewhat against type as man-killer Ariadne Utterwood. She pulled off the haughty, shallow, angry character quite well, managing a sort of frigid sexuality that drives her suitors to distraction. But she's Ivey through and through, and there's more bite than nibble to this siren.
That being said, no one in the cast could stand against the utter domination of Harris' and Harrison's bravura performances. Difficult to find, but Heartbreak House is definitely worth the search for serious theater fans.