[3] The play was revived in November 2006 at the Garrick Theatre, with Felicity Kendal and Jenna Russell in the lead roles, and ran until February 2007.
Over the course of these sixteen years, "a running argument about the respective virtues of traditional theater and the media arts weaves its way through espoused opinions on marriage, love, fame, fidelity, betrayal, personal and artistic integrity, and the sometimes elusive ethics of the corporate world, among other things.
Hare’s own knowledge of the theater as well as filmmaking is a prominent source of the criticisms and benefits of the two mediums argued about by the fictional Dominic and Esme.
Dominic, now a film director, goes to Esme (who is once again a successful actress) seeking peace between them in order to honor what Amy was constantly trying to achieve.
Act One begins in 1979, in the living-room of Amy's mother's home, which is decorated with paintings done by her late father, an obscure artist.
Dominic has started a publication as well, called Noir et Blanc in which he reviews films, and which he hopes will lead him to a career in filmmaking.
[12] Amy tries to ease the tension by inquiring about her mother's current play, but this quickly bores Dominic who is much more interested in discussing television or movies.
Amy and Dominic, as well as their unseen children, and Esme and her new interest Frank, are returning from a ribbon cutting ceremony for a local fête.
The airy chitchat soon turns to conversation of Dominic's plan to interview Esme for his new television program – although she makes blatant attempts to escape his questions.
He is putting together a piece about how he thinks the theater is dead and new generations can’t connect with the slow pace, the everyday bore of it all.
Amy arrives at the house looking for Esme to find Frank poring over various books and documents, Evelyn sleeping across the room in a wheelchair.
It seems clear that they have not spoken for quite some time, and Esme is so glad to finally see her daughter again that she begins to weep as she hugs Amy.
The focus then shifts and we learn that Amy's mother has run into a bit of a rough patch with her investments – about five hundred thousand dollars worth.
Amy wants her mother to know that there truly was a good, loving side to her husband, but that she hates to admit that she was wrong about some things and that Esme was right.
There are intense emotions circulating throughout the two women as they grapple with their situations, and there is a heartfelt, although awkward, struggle as Esme tries to console Amy.
The play does stray slightly into modernism in that there are questions of morality when Dominic leaves Amy, and the social order is challenged when Esme is forced out of theater and into television.
Esme also loses her savings through Lloyd's investing misfortunes, and Dominic rises from a nobody-critic to a big-time film director.
In terms of more specific styles, each address author concerns, comprehensibility, plot construction, character substance, setting, and language.
Amy's View is actually sort of a mixture of these, addressing the conflict between theater and new media, but also drawing on the growth of the characters as they navigate this changing culture.
The only place where this is stretched is in Dominic's role, where some critics find the actor struggling to "make the character human.
She gives him everything, including financial help to support his career endeavors, and he only repays her by falling for a young, blonde Swedish actress.
As a beginning critic and aspiring filmmaker, he passionately presents his ideas about the uselessness and bore of the theater and the fast-paced lure of television and film.
In the last act, however, we see Esme's return to the theater in a small production that continues to increase in popularity, while Dominic reaches his goal as a film director.
In order to address these elements in the context of Amy's View, it may be helpful to evaluate the original production, in which design was headed by Bob Crowley and lighting by Mark Henderson.
"The curtain pulls up and opens like an ever-widening camera lens," which is an interesting concept, as the play is metaphorically a "series of snapshots from a woman's life.
"[25] The set is repeatedly described as being "cozy",[22][26][27] which helps the audience feel at home with the characters, while the distance of the actual stage still allows viewers see the performance through an outside perspective.
However, as the play takes place over a period of sixteen years, there is a challenge when attempting to show the passage of time.
Crowley flawlessly tackles the issue by putting "us in a deceptively basic, wide rectangular sitting-room set in which only the slipcovers change through the years.
One thing that could be referenced in lieu of musical score is the rhythm of the dialogue, which is also discussed in the Language section: "It jumps between soft and concerned, creating pauses and carefully placed verbal cues in the lines, to rather witty and harsh, with perfectly timed responses so as to create a quick volley of argument between the characters.
Esme Allen was played by Julia Watson with Kirsty Besterman as Amy, Ryan Early as Dominic, Robin Bowerman as Frank, Margaret Robertson as Evelyn and Thomas Eyre as Toby.