SEA WALL/A LIFE - 2 One Act Plays about the Circle of Life Stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge

SEA WALL/A LIFE at the Public Theater is a diptych play production starring British actor Tom Sturridge in SEA WALL and Oscar winner Jake Gyllenhaal in A LIFE.  Both One Act plays are long soliloquies delivered by Sturridge and Gyllenhaal in which parallels can be drawn.  SEA WALL written by Simon Stephens (b UK 1971) received the Tony for Best Play ("Curious Incident of the Dog.")  SEA WALL is a tauter constructed play with stronger impact.  The pathos turns the tide from a lovely reminiscent of a young family to its tragic ending.  Alex (Tony winning actor Sturridge) addresses the audience as if in an intimate ongoing conversation.  He speaks of his profound love for his wife Helen, her imposing former military-man father Arthur and their beloved daughter Lucy.  We're lulled into complacency by Alex's description of Lucy wrapping her grandfather around her finger.  Lucy is the apex of joy that funnels their loving familial bond.  Alex is a photographer and when he accidentally scatters a box of photos while climbing up a ladder, the harbinger for shattered lives is strewn.  There's unease at Alex's vicarious stance on the ledge of the raised platform while speaking.  Stephen's brilliantly written monologue & Sturridge's steadfast manner unfurls like a powerful wave one absently turns their back to. Alex is left with a hole through his heart wishing he were able to photo freeze life.  In the play A LIFE, Abe (Gyllenhaal) also uses the conceit of addressing a friendly audience.  At one point he thrashes through rows and this gimmick detered from the feeling of intimacy maintained in SEA WALL.  Abe's monologue is non-linear.  The timeline and overlaying of events become muddled and confusing.  Abe is overwhelmed when his wife tells him she's pregnant.  His anticipation of fatherhood is marred by the death of his own father.  There are 3 deaths Abe tells us; death of the body, the burial and the last time the name of the deceased is spoken aloud.   A LIFE examines fatherhood from Abe's perspectives as a son to his father and as a father to his newborn daughter Mary.  Payne's writing mixes levity to intwine the pain & joys that span a lifetime.  SEA WALL looks back onto the love Alex had for his daughter Lucy while A LIFE looks at the birth of Abe's love for his daughter Mary.  Theological themes questioning the existence of God are more blatant in SEA WALL than A LIFE.  The 2 One Acts together create a complex and intriguing production.  However, SEA WALL is the One Act that can stand alone.