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Wednesday, March 16, 2005
‘Summer and Smoke’ at Theatrical Outfit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW: “Summer and Smoke.” Through March 20.
Well, I declare: After a long stretch of the vapors, Miss Alma Winemiller has emerged from semi-retirement for Theatrical Outfit’s handsome new production of Tennessee Williams’ smoldering 1948 classic, “Summer and Smoke.”
Alma —- a high-strung preacher’s daughter in Glorious Hill, Miss. —- was William’s favorite heroine, her story the most vivid imitation of his troubled life. Possessed of nervous fits of laughter, heart palpitations and a spirit that’s essentially good and kind, Alma is as sexually frustrated as Maggie the Cat, as sensitive as Laura Wingfield and as neurotic and drug-dependent as Blanche DuBois.
Alma has pined for good-looking Dr. John Buchanan Jr. since they were children, when they used to frolic at the town drinking fountain beside a stone angel called Eternity. This being a magnolia-scented tragedy about unrequited love and the promiscuity of failed romantics, you can be sure that the tale of Alma and John Buchanan Jr. will come to no good end.
Directed by Jay Freer and starring Elizabeth Wells Berkes as the terminally misunderstood Alma, this “Summer” is a mixture of hyperventilating emotional excess, lost comedic opportunities and revelatory interior transformations.
Berkes’ performance is as meticulously constructed as a Gothic cathedral, and as over the top. Though Alma’s trademark laugh is as funny on the 50th time as the first (to me, at least), Berkes is so overwrought from the beginning that she has no place to go. No wonder the whole town mocks poor Alma behind her back.
At the other end of the see-saw is John Jr., a suave and flirtatious womanizer perpetually garbed in white linen. To Thomas Piper’s credit, John doesn’t lapse into the kind of mealy-mouthed Southern caricature that often typifies a Williams man. Unfortunately, his characterization is so somnambulistic that it’s almost devoid of humor and irony.
Such hot and cold performances seem to typify this production. As Alma’s father, Chris Kayser refrains from showmanship, while Marianne Fraulo (as her petulant mother) is a strange brew of garbled sounds and fussy mannerisms. In fact, nearly the entire supporting cast fumbles the comedic episodes that the playwright situated with such glee, the disastrous meeting of Alma’s parlor-room intellectual society being a case-in-point.
The exception is Tom Key (the Outfit’s artistic director) as Dr. John Sr. It’s one of the smaller roles, but Key reinvents himself so fully that he’s almost unrecognizable. Speaking in a nasal monotone, he conducts a probing psychological examination of Alma without ever looking up from his desk. Clearly, this Alabama native knows something about the manners of Southern patricians.
Part of the pleasure of this “Summer and Smoke” comes from its intimate staging at the new Balzer Theater at Herren’s. As per Williams’ explicit production notes, scenic designer Michael Halad unspools a starry cyclorama that serves as a backdrop to the town square and the interiors of the Buchanan and Winemiller homes. Sydney Roberts’ costumes —- ice-cream suits for the men, flouncy frocks for the ladies —- are authentic to the turn-of-the-century milieu.
By the end of this uneven but ultimately satisfying production, the ensemble finds the rhythm and majesty of Williams’ poetry, and Berkes calms down to deliver a heartbreaking Alma, who’s become addicted to sleeping pills. As she tells her latest conquest: “The prescription number is 96814. I think of it as the telephone number of God.”
THE VERDICT: Captures the eternal sadness and misplaced passions of Tennessee Williams.
THE 411: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. 2:30 p.m. Sundays. $16.20-$43.20. Theatrical Outfit, The Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St., Atlanta. 404-577-5257; theatricaloutfit.org.
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Horizon’s ‘String of Pearls’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW: “String of Pearls.” Through April 3.
Cole Porter once penned a charming ditty called “The Tale of the Oyster,” about a “bivalve social climber” that insinuated itself from sea to table to a society matron’s stomach … and then —- blech —- back to its watery home.
It was quite a circuitous journey for the poor little oyster —- but nothing compared with the titular “String of Pearls” in Michele Lowe’s cleverly strung together play at Horizon Theatre.
A better title for Lowe’s script might be “20 Ways to Lose a String of Pearls.” The story begins when soon-to-be-wed Amy discovers that her grandmother’s pearls are missing. It then fishhooks its way through 27 characters, four decades and the belly of a striped bass before coughing up the lost treasure.
By turns funny and poignant, “String of Pearls” is nothing if not a fully exploited writing conceit and acting exercise. It’s probably three or four beads too long and uses a premise so ridiculous it becomes magical. Yet ultimately it works as a sweet affirmation of the feminine quest for beauty, love and remembrance.
Apparently, women’s feelings about pearls are second only to their lust for chocolate. But no lady in her right mind passes truffles, creams and nut clusters from generation to generation. (Or if she does, no one has yet written a play about it.)
Pearls, on the other hand, carry a whisper of eternity, and they are meant to be handed down like memories.
Directed by Megan Monaghan, “String of Pearls” gives a workout to four character actors who are required to orchestrate endless costume and personality changes. It’s a testament to the performers (Monica L. Williamson as bride-to-be Amy, Ann Wilson as her grandmother, Sally J. Robertson as her mother and Donna Biscoe as her mom’s friend, and so on) that they sculpt each portrait with a lapidary’s precision.
Lowe deals with issues of abandonment, loss and betrayal —- as well as caregiving, friendship, independence and the blush of unexpected romance. We go from weddings and funerals to adulterous trysts and speedy getaways.
Robertson, who bears a slight resemblance to actress Kathy Bates, paints some of the most vivid characters: lesbian gravedigger Cindy, “cultured white trash” cafeteria worker Cheryle, judgmental mom Gloria. Williamson and Wilson bring youthful spark to their never-ending transformations. And Biscoe has the best comedic timing.
The one gaffe here is Wilson’s portrayal of Beth. Despite the creaky voice and stooped posture, the actress can’t make us believe she’s a 74-year-old grandmother.
Designer Wm. Moore smartly keeps the scenery simple and symbolic: Baseball-size pearls bob in a pair of reflecting pools, and a barren tree is festooned with strands of pearly buds.
Though the playwright has said that she literally taped pieces of paper together to connect the dots, “String of Pearls” never reads like a cut-and-paste job. Lovely to look at, it’s a well-polished trifle that speaks to the strength and courage of women everywhere.
THE VERDICT: A keeper.
THE 411: 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays; 8:30 p.m. Saturdays; 5 p.m. Sundays. Through April 3. Also 3 p.m. April 2. $20-$25. Horizon Theatre, 1083 Austin Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-584-7450, www .horizontheatre.com.
