Infinite Life (play)

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Infinite Life is a play by Annie Baker which premiered in 2023. Infinite Life was slated to premiere in 2021 but opened in 2023 at the Atlantic Theater Company, in a production prepared in collaboration with the National Theatre of London, which is where the show continued its run after leaving the Linda Gross theater in New York.

Contents

Plot

The play is about five women – four of them are in their 60s, one is 47 – staying at a health retreat in northern California. The play shows their interacation during various treatments and wellness programs. There is one minor role for a man.

Reviews

As The Guardian 's reviewer summarized, "by wrapping up their discomfort in language and submitting to treatment meted out by the overseeing doctor [...], the women can liberate themselves by starving and articulating away their pain." [1]

Writing for The New York Times , Darryn King stated that it "is a play about the experience of pain — our own and each other’s. “Infinite Life” also goes further than Baker's other plays in its exploration of stillness." [2]

The critic for the Los Angeles Times wrote that the play is notable for "the accuracy of behavioral observation and the quality of empathy." [3] Lauren Mechling of The Guardian called the play "often mesmerizing and undeniably audacious." [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 Mechling, Lauren (2023-09-13). "Infinite Life review – Annie Baker's latest production is timely but uneven". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  2. ↑ King, Darryn (2023-08-30). "In Annie Baker's Plays, Pay Attention to the Pauses". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  3. ↑ McNulty, Charles (2023-10-04). "Commentary: Annie Baker chases nexus of pain and desire in hypnotic observational odyssey, 'Infinite Life'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
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