The Select (The Sun Also Rises) at Shakespeare Theatre

By: Charlene Giannetti

The Select is not everyone’s cup of tea (or, more accurately, shot of whisky). The Elevator Repair Company, the group responsible for Gatz,an afternoon and evening marathon reading of The Great Gatsby, has followed up with a production of Ernest Hemingway’s masterwork that, after touring cities in the U.S, and Europe, opened in 2011 at the New York Theater Workshop. Now playing through April 2 at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre, The Select focuses on American and British expatriates living in France and Spain in the aftermath of World War I.

In program notes, Director John Collins said that condensing Hemingway’s 260-page novel proved to be challenging. The play clocks in at around two and a half hours, and while there’s plenty of action – several lively dance sequences and a thrilling bull fight, ingeniously staged with a rolling table equipped with horns – the play is heavy on dialogue. But this is Hemingway, after all, and audience members who stay the course are rewarded with a theatrical event that is unique and inspiring. Those who have never read Hemingway, or have long forgotten his emphasis on simple prose, may find themselves on Amazon. His characters truly have stood the test of time and, brought to life on stage, prove to be as intriguing and complex as they are on the page.

Read the original article here.