Burn This is HOT
Adam Driver and Keri Russell are on fire in Burn This
Keri Russell and Adam Driver take the stage at the Hudson Theater in the Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson’s Pulitzer-winning play, Burn This. Originally written in 1987, the drama beautifully explores the connection between two strangers brought together through the tragedy of death. Dynamic, passionate and explosive chemistry unfolds as the actors deliver a powerful, provocative performance.
Russell plays Anna, a professional dancer and choreographer. Driver takes the part of Pale, a drug-addled restaurant manager desperately struggling in life and unable to sit still. His brother Robbie is Anna’s dance partner, and tragically dies in a boating accident. And, as so often in life, unfortunately, death is what bring Anna and Pale together. As they grieve, the story of innate attraction, lust and eventual love unfolds. The roles were first played by Hollywood heavyweights Joan Allen and John Malkovich.
But Russell and Driver are proving their own prowess on stage and on camera. Recently nominated for an Oscar for “BlacKkKlansman,” Driver is a sought-after leading man these days. Russell is having her own success in The Americans, where she was nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe. And in the words of a writer for New York Magazine’s The Cut, regarding the play, “together, they unleash a sexual energy so powerful, it rips a hole in the space-time continuum.”
This isn’t the first time the actors (who happen to also be neighbors in the Brooklyn Heights section of Brooklyn) have worked together. They will both appear on screen in “Star Wars: Episode IX,” the final, extra-secret installment of the mega-hit movie franchise. Perhaps in keeping such a tight-kept secret, the two were able to draw from a shared, protective veil of mystery to elicit passion on stage.
If the promotional photos for Burn This are any indication of the chemistry on stage for these two, then this play couldn’t be more aptly titled. Keri Russell and Adam Driver are on fire and are sure to deliver a hot performance in Burn This.
