Before every performance of Sea Wall/A Life, Tom Sturridge and Jake Gyllenhaal would find each other to hug— and Sturridge would not go on stage without one. “It is something I will never forget,” Gyllenhaal says in the video above, of the pair’s backstage bonding.
Released on the one-year anniversary of Sea Wall/A Life’s final performance, a new video shows the cast and crew virtually reuniting to talk about the show’s impact on their lives. Beyond their personal reflections, the video offers backstage footage and audience testimonials.
The evening of back-to-back monologue plays by Simon Stephens and Nick Payne opened on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre August 8, 2019. It wrapped up a limited nine-week engagement September 29, recouping its investment.
“This past year, as the assembly of strangers has become impossible, I often think back to our summer evenings at the Hudson, and how much we shared in those moments of community to sit with those many hundreds of people,” adds director Carrie Cracknell, referring to the very different landscape of the industry today.
Theatres have been shuttered since March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Broadway is closed through at least January 3, 2021, but smaller venues and outdoor theatres have begun adapting to safely present works.
