Tanna Frederick, Brody Orofino (Photo by Devin Harris)
Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
Whitmore Lindley Theatre Center
Through Aug. 31
Tennessee Williams hasn’t received much attention from the local theater community lately. He is celebrated for his lyrical writing and memorable characters that are weighted with torment and emotional baggage, especially fragile and manipulative women. This seldom produced one-act debuted off-Broadway in 1958, and it was made into a movie with heavy-weight stars Montgomery Clift, Katherine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor in 1959. It mirrors some of the same themes Williams wove into his earlier dramas like “A Streetcar named Desire and “The Glass Menagerie.”
The setting is the verdant back yard garden (colorfully and efficiently crafted by scenic designer Kaspian), in the home of well-to-do New Orleans matriarch Violet Venable (Tanna Frederick). She is burdened with fragility, walks with a cane, but is nevertheless haughty and imperious in demeanor. On this day, she welcomes a psychiatrist, Dr. Cukrowicz (an impressive turn by Brody Orofino), into her home to request a favor: she wants him to examine her niece Catherine (director Avalon Stone) with the aim of having her declared insane so she can be lobotomized! It seems that Catherine, who is confined to a hospital, has been “babbling” about the conditions surrounding the death of Violet’s beloved son Sebastian, a poet and faux-aesthete, and that her rantings could taint Sebastian’s “spotless memory,” which his fawning mother is determined to protect at all costs. She even goes so far as to offer Dr. Cuckrowicz money for his research.
As the play progresses, it becomes apparent that Violet is deceptive and ruthless, and had an near incestuous attachment to her son, who was too close to cousin Catherine for Violet’s comfort. When Catherine is brought in to be examined by Dr. Cuckrowicz under the supervision of Sister Felicity (Phoebe Balson), the dark tide of revelation—and truth– washes over the stage. Accompanying Catherine are her mother and brother (Stefanie T. Keefer, Wylie Keele), and after Dr. Cuckrowicz administers a truth serum to Catherine, the whole ugly story about Sebastian’s death and the circumstances surrounding it emerge.
This is a good production, but it’s not without some snags. As Catherine, Avalon does an artful job of managing the robust tensions of this piece, but her performance is not nearly as effective or convincing — it’s too overheated and unstudied, sometimes to the point of caricature. Frederick’s portrayal is good, on balance, but she isn’t as sharp as she should be. Devin Harris’s lighting schema is exceptional. Rounding out the cast are Helia Ziba as Miss Foxhill.
Whitmore Lindley Theatre Center, 11006 Magnolia Boulevard, North Hollywood. Fri.-Sun., 7:30 pm; thru Aug. 31. : https://www.eventbrite.com/e/suddenly-last-summer-by-tennessee-williams-tickets-1449045627479 Runtime: 90 minutes with no intermission.
