Title: Closer
Author: Patrick Marber
First published November 3, 1997
120 pages, Paperback
ISBN: 9780802136459 (ISBN10: 0802136451)
Rating: 3.98
Overview
In his captivating masterpiece, Closer, Patrick Marber delves into the complexities of contemporary relationships, where four strangers find themselves intertwined in a tumultuous web of love, lust, and deception. With its raw portrayal of modern romance, Closer has earned its place as one of the most celebrated plays of the nineties, captivating audiences with its gripping exploration of the human heart.
As the London Observer raved, Closer has left an indelible mark on our cultural consciousness, cementing its status as a timeless work of art.
About the Author
Patrick Albert Crispin Marber, a multi-talented English artist, has worked as a stand-up comedian, playwright, director, puppeteer, actor, and screenwriter. He started his career as a cast member and writer for radio and television shows such as On the Hour and Knowing Me, Knowing You, and their spinoffs The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You… with Alan Partridge, where he played the character of Peter O’Hanrahahanrahan.
Marber’s first play, Dealer’s Choice, which he also directed, was centered around a game of poker and took place in a restaurant. Inspired by his own struggles with gambling addiction, the play premiered in February 1995 at the National Theatre and won the 1995 Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy.
In the same year, Marber adapted Strindberg’s Miss Julie for BBC television, relocating the story to post-World War II Britain during the Labour Party’s election victory. A stage adaptation of the play, directed by Michael Grandage, was later performed in 2003 at the Donmar Warehouse in London and 2009 at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway.
Marber’s next play, Closer, is a comedy about sex, deceit, and betrayal, also directed by Marber and premiered at the National Theatre in 1997. It won multiple awards, including the Evening Standard award for Best Comedy, Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards, and Laurence Olivier awards for Best New Play.
The play has been translated into thirty languages and was adapted into a film in 2004, written by Marber, directed by Mike Nichols, and starring Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman, and Clive Owen.
Howard Katz, his following play, debuted in 2001 at the National Theatre and portrayed a middle-aged man struggling with life, death, and religion. It received less critical acclaim than his previous work and was not as commercially successful.
However, a new production by the Roundabout Theatre Company opened Off-Broadway in March 2007, featuring Alfred Molina in the title role. Marber also wrote The Musicians, a play for young people about a school orchestra’s trip to Russia, which premiered at the Sydney Opera House in 2004.
In 2006, Marber’s contemporary version of Molière’s comedy Don Juan, titled Don Juan in Soho, premiered at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Michael Grandage and starring Rhys Ifans in the lead role. Marber also co-wrote the screenplay for Asylum (2005), directed by David Mackenzie, and was the sole screenwriter for the film Notes on a Scandal (2006), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
In 2004, Marber served as the Cameron Mackintosh Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University.
Editoral Review
In Patrick Marber’s Closer, readers are taken on a raw and gritty journey through the complex and often tumultuous lives of four interconnected individuals. First published in November 1997, the novel delves deeply into themes of love, lust, betrayal, and jealousy, all set against the backdrop of modern-day London.
Marber’s writing style is sharp, insightful, and highly authentic, with a precise attention to detail that vividly brings the characters and setting to life. The novel opens with Dan, an obituary writer, who meets Alice after she is hit by a car.
The two quickly become lovers, but this affair is soon complicated by the arrival of Anna, a photographer that Dan meets and falls for, complicating the relationships between all four characters. One of the strengths of Closer is the way that Marber deftly weaves together multiple layers of subtext, exploring themes such as the nature of desire, the fragility of human connection, and the consequences of giving in to our most base impulses.
The characters themselves are fully fleshed out, with each one possessing their own unique flaws, hopes, and desires. Despite its strengths, however, Closer is not without its limitations.
For some readers, the unflinching portrayal of adult relationships may be too intense or uncomfortable to confront head-on. Additionally, while the novel does an excellent job of showcasing the inner lives of the characters, the plot itself can sometimes feel meandering or unclear.
Overall, however, Closer is a powerful and thought-provoking novel that will stay with readers long after the final page has been turned. Fans of literary fiction, particularly those interested in exploring the dark underbelly of modern relationships, are sure to find much to appreciate here.
Rating: 4/5 stars.
Recommended for: Fans of literary fiction, particularly those interested in exploring the complex and nuanced relationships between adults.
