Heartbreak House (1986)

	James V.

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Just as George Bernard Shaw's HEARTBREAK HOUSE is about to receive another Broadway revival (August 2006, with Philip Bosco leading the cast) viewers might want to take in this nearly 30-year-old rendition of a magnificent play that, perhaps more than any other Shaw I've seen, gets almost to the heart of the man and the matter--addressing so much so deeply that I am amazed all over again. Human hypocrisy concerning love and war is here, as it is so often in the work of this great playwright, along with the uses of pretense, god, money--and money management, too. The cast (not the one noted above!) features a surprising array that includes John Gielgud, Daniel Massey, Sian Phillips, Barbara Murray and a very good Leslie-Anne Down, who shows abilities that American movies and TV have rather managed to eclipse over the years. You'll laugh often enough, of course: this is Shaw. But in this wise play, the dark creeps nearer and with more sadness than is usual.

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