Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins on Broadway The Height of the Storm

Sir Jonathan Pryce and Dame Eileen Atkins alight upon the Great White Way in a play by French playwright/novelist Florian Zeller, "The Height of the Storm."   Zeller at age 40  is wise in the creative art of play-writing and the ways of the world.  Zeller tells us as the play begins "We need to know when to let go."  Andre' (Jonathan Pryce) has been married forever to Madeleine (Eileen Atkins).  The couple's 2 daughters are Anne (Amanda Drew) & Elise (Lisa O'Hare).  This family dynamic is never in doubt but the clever & devious structure of the play is nebulous as to whether Andre or Madeleine or perhaps both have died.  We know the family is in mourning but who is grieving and for whom we're uncertain.  Andre, a highly acclaimed write has advanced dementia.   What is a mirage and what is real remains clouded in a stifling mystery.  We're left to drift through the detritus of these people's live to ascertain the truth?  The muddled sequence of events are mired in such cunning fashion the audience experiences vertigo & confusion.  We're not alone in asking what is going on?  These multi-layered manifestations come fast & furious, tender & slow.  Life is short - except for when it's oppressively long.  This brilliant & provocative play examines the burdens of becoming elderly.  It looks at the complex issues that arise when adult children of parents become the generation responsible for caring for their infirm and geriatric parents.  Both Pryce & Atkins give tour-de-force performances and the supporting cast is flawless.  "The Height of the Storm" is a tempest of mounting issues that deal with aging & dying with dignity.   The play examines truths from many pensive perspectives.  One needs to know the truth is oftentimes ugly and too oftentimes not confronted in a timely or diplomatic manner.   "The Height of the Storm" lingers like a cyclone long after the curtain falls.