Williams at his best 'Suddenly Last Summer' brilliantly blossoms at TheatreWorks
2008-07-18
No matter the weather outside, theatergoers who attend “Suddenly Last Summer” at TheatreWorks New Milford will be taken aback by the recreation of Sebastian Venable’s garden at his family’s home in the garden district of 1936 New Orleans. The atmosphere is oppressive: the illusion of humidity lingers in a haunting mist around the set—an atrium-like structure that houses plants that grow wild, untouched since Sebastian’s sudden death last summer.
The sultry dominance of this forgotten jungle is just a taste of what is ahead, even before the lights come up and the first lines are spoken in TheatreWorks’ production of Tennessee Williams’ “Suddenly Last Summer.”
While it is noted as one of the playwright’s most poetic works—highlighted by the two main characters’ long and powerfully dramatic monologues—“Suddenly Last Summer” is a gothic Southern tale that shocks its audience to its core. If not staged properly, a production of Williams’ searing drama will disintegrate like ice on a humid summer afternoon. Fortunately, the TheatreWorks production is thought-provoking and brilliantly executed—a drama true theater lovers would be remiss in passing over. It is Williams at his best.
The story revolves around Violet Venable (Noël Desiato), a wealthy widow desperate to preserve the “wholesome” image of her 40-year-old son, Sebastian Venable, a poet and admirer of beauty, a year after his tragic and mysterious death the previous summer. Violet, until last summer, had always been Sebastian’s traveling companion, and proud that people often looked upon them not as mother and son, but as “Sebastian and Violet.”
As the result of a minor stroke, Violet was unable to accompany Sebastian, who instead enlisted his cousin, Catharine Holly (Keilly Gillen McQuail), a poor relation of the family, to accompany him on what was to be his final trip. After he meets a violent end on the beaches of Cabeza de Lobos, Catharine, obviously emotionally shattered, returns and begins to reveal the horrific details surrounding Sebastian’s cruel death—much to Violet’s chagrin. Catharine cannot forget how and why Sebastian died, and her bizarre behavior has led to her institutionalization at St. Mary’s. There she has remained until this humid summer afternoon.
On this day, Violet has also called upon young neurosurgeon Dr. Cukrowicz (Jeremiah Maestas)—also known as Dr. Sugar, for his name is Polish for sugar—to interview Catharine. Barely acknowledging Catharine as her niece, she wants her silenced at any cost. Telling stories about her travels with Sebastian—often illusions of who he was—Violet must convince the young doctor of Catharine’s insanity in the hope he will perform a lobotomy to quiet her ramblings. She disputes the details Catharine has revealed and ultimately blames her for Sebastian’s death. The story is so gruesome that no one, in fact, believes Catharine.
Just after Catharine arrives at the Venable garden, Catharine’s mother (Katherine Almquist) and brother George (David Hutchinson) try to persuade her to stop telling stories so Violet will relinquish the money left them in Sebastian’s will. The melodrama comes to a head when Catharine is administered a “truth serum” by the doctor and evocatively reveals the sordid details surrounding Sebastian’s death last summer.
For “Suddenly Last Summer” to have the poignant impact Williams intended, the director must choose his cast wisely. First-time director Joseph Russo should be commended for his foresight in choosing not only capable actors, but those who have the breadth to grasp Williams’ complex vision and project it. Mr. Russo has done so brilliantly—particularly with his leading ladies.
While there are remarkable performances by KC Ross as Miss Foxhill, Violet’s maid, seasoned actress Katharine Almquist as Mrs. Holly, David Hutchinson as George Holly and Robbin Christiani as Sister Felicity—Catharine’s hard-as-nails “traveling companion” for the trip to Aunt Violet’s—they are superficial characters as far as Williams was concerned. Rather, the weight of the production rests on the shoulders of Noël Desiato as Violet Venable and Keilly Gillen McQuail as Catharine.
Dr. Cukrowicz is the bridge between the two, portrayed by Jeremiah Maestas, last seen on the TheatreWorks stage in an extraordinary performance as Edward Kynaston in the 2006 production of “Compleat Female Stage Beauty.”
Once again, this young actor reveals his ability to breathe life into even the most complex characters. Dr. Cukrowicz is stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, this young neurosurgeon needs money for his clinic, but he is morally bound as a doctor. Is Catharine the picture of lunacy Violet has painted? If she is, would the operation Violet proposes help Catharine at all? If she is not insane, could the good doctor perform such an extreme procedure to satisfy the self-deluded Violet and his wallet?
Mr. Maestas wonderfully portrays the young doctor’s dilemma, his performance shedding light on the dark shadows of Williams’ somewhat autobiographical tale.
Ms. Desiato steals the show in the first half of the production. Her performance follows her tour de force earlier this season as Katharine Hepburn in TheatreWorks’ “Tea at Five,” and comes close to rivaling her stellar portrayal of Medea in the 2004 TheatreWorks production of the same name. Violet Venable is a vehement woman who stands by her convictions and venerates the memory of her dead son. She reveals a woman who perhaps loved her son too much, and who would do anything to feed her delusions. Violet is a grande dame who uses people as pawns, which Ms. Desiato portrays beautifully. She then effortlessly captures Violet’s stroke-induced physical weaknesses, afflictions she denies wholeheartedly, just as she does the truth about Sebastian’s death. She infuses Williams’ poetic monologue with a pungency that sends chills down the spine.
During Catharine’s speech in the second half of the play, Ms. Desiato’s face becomes a picture of disbelief and absolute agony. Ms. Desiato’s is a virtuoso performance.
Until now, TheatreWorks patrons have only seen Keilly Gillen McQuail’s comedic talents on stage—as Little Sally in “Urinetown,” as Tricia in “Dog Sees God” and as Mary Lane in “Reefer Madness”—roles that she commanded wonderfully. While she inched toward drama in last season’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” nothing holds a candle to the performance she offers as the institutionalized and shattered Catharine. Just her intonation when she utters, “Yes we all use each other and that’s what we think of as love,” is enough to break your heart.
While she is obviously affected by what she’s seen, Catharine is cognizant enough to realize she’s a pawn in her aunt’s spite and wishes not to relate her observations of Sebastian, but she has no choice when the truth serum sets in. As Catharine is forced to relive the horrible day on which Sebastian died, the pain in Ms. McQuail’s voice is incredibly affecting. She truly commands the spotlight in the second half of the play as she delivers her monologue. From fidgets barely cured by a cigarette to Williams’ viciously poetic speech, Ms. McQuail delivers a performance so vivid it’s haunting. The horror in her eyes as she recalls Sebastian’s final moments is stark, and viewers know that terror must be coursing through her veins. Hers is a most powerful performance that must exhaust the actress.
Mr. Russo has brilliantly directed this most dramatic of Williams’ plays, from casting through to the exquisite set, which ultimately becomes a physical and metaphorical symbol of the oppression that runs rampant throughout the production. The costumes beautifully recall the period, from Dr. Cukrowicz’s white suit, right on down to Violet’s bejeweled shawl and Catharine’s white Elsa Schiaparelli dress.
From the illusion of heat and humidity to the most subtle hints of foreboding, Mr. Russo has created a most wonderful summer of discontent with this production. I imagine TheatreWorks’ “Suddenly Last Summer” would please even Tennessee Williams, himself.