When Terry Johnson adapted
“The Graduate” for the stage from the novel by Charles Webb, and
from the screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, he must
have felt he could bring something to the theatre that the silver
screen could not deliver.
When Terry Johnson adapted “The Graduate” for the stage from the novel by Charles Webb, (who, by the way, wrote it when he was 23,) and from the screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, he must have felt he could bring something to the theatre that the silver screen could not deliver.
Other than thin smatterings of Simon and Garfunkle’s “Mrs. Robinson” and “The Sound of Silence” with some new additions that set the time show’s interval, there is barely a match for the rich and wonderful movie “The Graduate.” Perhaps it is unfair of me to compare the two but the dialogue and the thinness of this plot gives some good reasons.
Many of the younger generation will not remember or have seen the 1968 Oscar seven times nominated version with Dustin Hoffman, Ann Bancroft and directed by Mike Nichols. There is nothing for them to compare and perhaps it’s for the best.
This is a simple plot. As a naive, confused, upper class kid, Benjamin Braddock has come home from just graduating from an ivy league college to his doting parents. He is confused and depressed trying to figure out what road his education and life are to take. Benjamin is seduced by his father’s business partner’s mature wife, Mrs. Robinson, and after a torrid affair he eventually falls in love with her daughter.
The production opened in London’s West End in March 2000 with Kathleen Turner playing Mrs. Robinson. She was followed by Anne Archer, Jerry Hall and Linda Gray – from “Dallas” – who, by the way, owns the famous leg from the original “Graduate” movie poster.
Jerry Hall reprises her London role as Mrs. Robinson and shows an amazingly beautiful body for an admittedly 58-year-old woman and mother of four. The oft-touted nude scene in the first act is well done with dim light and is very brief. Ms. Hall comes off as a sophisticated, crusty, smooth predator who delivers her lines with reliability and clarity.
Rider Strong is believable as the young, neurotic, confused Benjamin Braddock. He is a good actor and carries the part with the right amount of awkwardness and agility to make it work.
“The Graduate” playing at the Curren Theatre is a light roll-in-the-in-the-twilight-zone of sexy drawing room comedy.
Camille Bounds is the arts and entertainment editor for the Western Division of Sunrise Publications.
