Introduction

In early 1999 Uma made her 'professional' stage debut in the Classic Stage Company's contemporary updating of Moliere's The Misanthrope. It's quite surprising that she hadn't done anything on stage before, I guess she hadn't needed to with her early breakthrough into films. Never the less, this off-Broadway play gave Uma a job in New York at a time when she wanted to stay there with her recently born baby and also gave her another opportunity to further broaden her talents. Never doing things by halves the part of Cèliméne (or Jennifer in this version) is supposedly one of the most difficult in theatre and made even more difficult by what some reviewers believe was a rather patchy updating of the original text.

It was a big call for Uma to make her 'debut' in such a challenging role, and because of her fame, under unusually heavy spotlight. As such I believe the reviews she received would have been very encouraging for her. Uma's peformance got mostly mixed reviews but leaning towards the positive side. It's understandable that the critics praise would be somewhat tempered, Uma has yet to "pay her dues" on the stage so you wouldn't expect her to be granted any favors. With that in mind - as well as the difficulty of the role and her inexperience - the reviews really were very good. There seems to be a general trend of her improving as she went on, no doubt as she got to grips with what she was doing and gained some confidence.

It will be interesting to see if Uma continues to work on the stage, I imagine she would like to. Unfortunately the reality of that is that most of us fans won't get to see her in action - including myself at this time. There's probably nothing I'd like to see more in regards to Uma than a live stage performance. I certainly hope I find myself in that position someday.

Review Extracts

Here's some extracts about Uma taken from various reviews of the play.

Curtain Up: "The real buzz about this show, which no doubt accounts for its near sell-out status and extension prior-to-opening, is based on the casting. Edelstein has used a real movie star (with virtually no stage experience), Uma Thurman, as Crimp's concocted one -- a difficult job made nearly insurmountable by positioning her opposite a very accomplished stage actor, Rees. So the question is, how does the match-up fare? Thurman certainly looks the part, and provides a plausible enough presence to explain what might cause Alceste to behave so out-of-character. Her early line readings do not bode well. She comes across anemic and lacking in conviction at first but by her confrontation scene with Alceste redeems herself and validates her celebrity. It's not clear where the supposedly American Jennifer gets the accent Thurman affects; things would improve if she would lose it. Regardless, she is able to capture the essence of a woman who can attract the attention of men, distract them from their moorings and exploit their attention sufficiently to gain entry to what life has to offer, unimpaired by any sense of devotion. And that's what counts."

Associated Press: "The lovely, blond Thurman of "Pulp Fiction" fame holds her own with such accomplished classically trained actors as Roger Rees and Mary Lou Rosato. But Thurman and the rest of the company are faced with the law of diminishing returns as they deal with Crimp's stilted, sour script."

Glenn Loney - New York Theatre Wire: "The Idea of Uma Thurman, on stage live, was immensely appealing even before I saw her demonstrate her mastery in Modern Molière. Uma Thurman is not only lovely, she is also a Natural on stage. Her sexy and mercurial Jennifer dominates the stage with no apparent effort."

NYTheatre.com: "It could be that some of Jennifer's grandeur derives from the captivating actress who portrays her here: Uma Thurman, every inch the movie star that she actually is, stunningly beautiful and deceptively self-aware and self-assured." This is not stunt casting: Ms. Thurman is an accomplished performer with very real presence on the stage: you never take your eyes off her.

New York Times: "Here, cast against the finely seasoned English actor Roger Rees in the title role and forced to speak in intricate, rhymed couplets, she brings to mind a beautiful, sheltered girl at her first grown-up dance, putting on airs and hoping against hope she'll get away with it. Actually, there's a game, likable quality to Ms. Thurman's performance, but it goes against the grain of Crimp's take on "The Misanthrope," which isn't likable at all. In physical terms it's hard to imagine anyone not falling for this tall, pale candle of a woman, except possibly someone with a fear of heights. But in striving to project from a stage Ms. Thurman exaggerates her gestures and delivery with pained self-consciousness. Her valuable stock in trade on screen, a sly, feline confidence, evaporates here. She has her moments, including a brutal confrontation with Rees that suggests the strange, misguided interdependence between their two characters. She's irresistible when she sinuously stretches her arms above her head, happily announcing, "I am the complete focus of all attention, yes."

Variety: "Thurman is making her professional stage debut as Jennifer, and she betrays her lack of experience in a tendency to play everything too heavily, although some of this is in Crimp's text. But she's a lovely presence, of course, and has a pleasing stage voice that brings much musicality to the text. It's to be hoped her innate charms will shine brighter and more effortlessly in future roles."

NY Law Journal: "Just as the classical actor Roger Rees brings to this playwright character a juicy combination of intellectual arrogance and emotional infantilism, so does the movie actress Uma Thurman bring pure female power and an utterly unself-conscious sexual confidence to this love goddess. She possesses natural stage courage and a presence no drama school can teach. Here is an actress who can simply stride across a stage and take it."

NY Post: "In her stage debut, Uma Thurman is a sight to behold - a slinky, clinging, drop-dead-gorgeous blonde mermaid sprawling voluptuously on a chaise longue and asking Alceste if he'd rather "pick a fight with me or spend the night with me." On screen, Thurman is a wide-eyed sex kitten with a dash of irony, a Marilyn with a hint of Marlene. On stage, she has pluck and allure to burn. Her actual performance gets better as the play goes on; her nervousness seems more controlled and she stops hitting all the rhyme words and relaxes, although we never quite believe she's this devastating intellectual.

USA Today: "Crimp's rewrite was more to be transcended than played. And that's precisely what the surprisingly assured Thurman - along with co-star Roger Rees - often accomplished. She has a rich stage voice that easily accommodates the high-tension revulsion she expresses at Rees' self-debasing sexual advances. She also has the physical magnetism, poise and charm to keep everyone adoring her even after she has publicly insulted them. It's a solid beginning, and on the basis of it, the theater world offers great possibilities for her ever-growing talent."

Articles

InTheater Magazine Preview of the play and an interview with Uma.

The New York Times Preview of the play and an interview with Uma.

Offsite Links

Classic Stage Company Website

Article on the Production