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Journalism of Courage
Vanessa Redgrave is standing in the damp chill of a New York City street smoking a cigarette. It8217;s early January and she8217;s just given a talk, with writer Joan Didion, about The Year of Magical Thinking, the upcoming one-woman Broadway show that Didion adapted from her 2005 memoir of her husband8217;s death. Suddenly, the door of the building flies open and out bounds none other than Jane Fonda, Redgrave8217;s co-star from Julia, the 1977 film for which Redgrave won an Oscar. They hug, and then Redgrave spills some big news: 8220;I got married!8221; Fonda squeals, and the two clutch hands and beam like schoolgirls.
Redgrave hasn8217;t gone public about her marriage to her longtime companion, Franco Nero and seems to have forgotten a reporter is standing nearby. But it8217;s not surprising that matrimony is on her mind. Marriage is a powerful thread in The Year of Magical Thinking, Didion8217;s exploration of mourning and the near-madness it caused. She and writer John Gregory Dunne were married for 39 years when he slumped over dead just before dinner one night in their Manhattan apartment.
In bringing her best-seller to the stage, Didion had to face another tragedy. Writing the book had helped her come to grips with her husband8217;s death, and writing the play became a way to deal with the loss of their daughter, Quintana, who died shortly after the book was finished. Her death 8220;is at the heart of the play8221;, says Didion. 8220;It was something I never entirely confronted before.8221; What gives the piece its special poignancy is Redgrave8217;s pitch-perfect performance. She modulates Joan beautifully8212; often she8217;s quite still, at other times, spirited8212;but she never overspends the big emotions.
Redgrave wears a wedding ring on stage and off it. It8217;s a gold band Nero gave her in a small ceremony for family and friends on the New Year8217;s Eve in England. The marriage, it turns out, isn8217;t official8212;8220;I think that8217;s a killer,8221; Redgrave says. 8220;But we8217;re married. It8217;s as simple as that.8221;
A month later, the actress celebrated her 70th birthday by beginning rehearsals for Magical Thinking. Hare calls the role 8220;acting Olympics8221;, the challenge of appearing at once in control and a little insane, not to mention being alone on stage for 100 minutes. She8217;s had two hip replacements.
For all the stages Redgrave has commanded in her long and brilliant career, this role is a kind of triumphal culmination. 8220;Everything I8217;ve undergone or been part of is here,8221; she says. 8220;It8217;s about survival. And that8217;s my birthday present, this play.8221; May she have many more8212;roles, as well as birthdays.
CATHLEEN MCGUIGAN
