Jude Law smolders in NT Live’s ‘Obsession’

The National Theatre production of “Obsession” is broadcast live to Orcas Center on Thursday, June 8 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are very scarce for the production, broadcast live from the Old Vic Theatre in London – so for many, the only way to see it now is via the NT Live broadcast — a “must see” for a date night out at Orcas Center.

“Obsession” is a dark, psychological tale, examining the relationship of a couple, the power of seduction and how far they will go to be with each other.

Jude Law (“The Young Pope,” “Closer,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley”) stars in the stage production of “Obsession,” broadcast live from the Barbican Theatre in London.

Ivo van Hove (NT Live: “A View from the Bridge,” “Hedda Gabler”) directs this new stage adaptation of Luchino Visconti’s 1943 film. People who enjoyed those broadcasts will see many of his trademarks in “Obsession.”

Gino is a drifter, down-at-heel and magnetically handsome. At a roadside restaurant, he encounters husband and wife, Giuseppe and Giovanna.

Irresistibly attracted to each other, Gino and Giovanna begin a fiery affair and plot to murder her husband. But, in this chilling tale of passion and destruction, the crime only serves to tear them apart.

The Guardian raves that “Obsession” is, “a stylish stage version of Luchino Visconti’s film.” Jude Law is the big draw in this play and he is beautifully matched by his counterpart, Halina Reijn. “Law is muscular, moody and very good at conveying the brooding guilt that follows the story’s pivotal murder. Reijn, in some ways, is even more extraordinary. She starts with the right air of anguished solitude, is quickened into life by the presence of the charismatic stranger and later sets about reordering her existence with a conscienceless practicality.”

Tickets are $20, $15 for students, $2 off for Orcas Center members, and may be purchased at www.orcascenter.org or by calling 376-2281 ext. 1 or visiting the Orcas Center box office open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 12-2 p.m. $5 subsidized tickets available at the Box Office.