White-Hot ‘Suddenly Last Summer’ Burns Brightly on TWSTL Stage

White-Hot ‘Suddenly Last Summer’ Burns Brightly on TWSTL Stage

By Lynn Venhaus

Featuring an indelible performance by Naima Randolph as the traumatized Catharine Holly in an impeccably staged “Suddenly Last Summer,” this year’s Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis’ centerpiece created a vivid atmospheric contemplation on mental health, homophobia, and the truth.

These topics often associated with the playwright are still thought-provoking in contemporary times, some 66 years after he wrote it in New York City and first presented off-Broadway in 1958 as a 90-minute one-act, double-billed with “Something Unspoken.”

One of Williams’ most haunting and lyrical works, “Suddenly Last Summer” is best known for the melodramatic 1959 movie starring three future legends –Elizabeth Taylor as Cathy and Katherine Hepburn as Violent Venable, both Oscar-nominated for their performances, and Montgomery Clift as Dr. “Sugar,” and those shadows loom large.

The screenplay, a Williams’ collaboration with Gore Vidal, differs from the play in opening it up to show scenes at the beach, and other scenes, characters, and subplots were added. This being through a ‘50s lens, they had to remove explicit references to homosexuality. It’s a different world today in terms of taboos, although people still use each other, and issues raised persist.

Lisa Terejo by Suzy Gorman

However dated the material, director Tim Ocel doesn’t downplay the inferences. He is a master at interpreting Williams’ artistry, making it relatable for a modern audience.

Along with producer Carrie Houk, a master caster and the festival’s executive producer, he has put together a powerhouse ensemble, who brings to life many dark elements of human nature – including greed, deception, delusion, desire, desperation, and dominance.

Just as he did in a stunning “A Streetcar Named Desire” in 2018 and meticulous “The Night of the Iguana” in 2019, both at The Grandel, Ocel’s retelling is fresh and visionary, emphasizing the horror of a tragic death that is framed like a fascinating murder mystery and gripping courtroom drama.

Oh, what a tangled web we find the Venable family in when they reinforce lies over truth. At the domineering matriarch’s mansion in the affluent Garden District of New Orleans in 1936, brain surgeon Dr. Cukrowicz, aka “Dr. Sugar,” is summoned there to review her niece’s case.

Through her wealth, the bitter Violet hopes to keep Cathy institutionalized and have a lobotomy performed, so that a scandalous family secret won’t be exposed. She has kept her in a private mental asylum since she returned from Europe.

Violet’s cherished son, Sebastian, a closeted gay poet, has been brutally killed while on vacation in Spain, accompanied by his cousin instead of Mommie dearest. The circumstances are unclear, and no one believes Cathy’s horrific account. Locked away against her will, she has been further victimized by her treatment. Now, she can not only reveal the ugly truth but be spared more damage.

Randolph is spellbinding as she recounts the details of a summer holiday at Cabeza de Lobo to those assembled, led by an always stellar Bradley Tejeda as Dr. Sugar, who skillfully guides the proceedings as he gently probes a vulnerable and broken Cathy.

Cathy knows she is being manipulated, and after being injected with a truth serum, weaves a riveting account of being a decoy to attract young boys for the predatory Sebastian’s exploitation. She was used just like they were, but instead of earning sympathy, she’s trying to be suppressed by everyone.

Photo by Suzy Gorman

Dr. Sugar’s not entirely convinced Cathy is insane, but at stake is a large donation to his psychiatric research from Mrs. Venable.

Tejeda, brilliant as Tom in 2021’s outdoor “The Glass Menagerie” and comical as Alvaro in last year’s “The Rose Tattoo,” is cool and calm in a crisp white suit, fully aware of the evil in the Venable’s jungle-garden, where his interrogation takes place.

Lisa Tejero deftly commands the stage as the controlling Mama Bear who makes her late husband’s family feel small in her presence, ready to pounce on those she considers duplicitous and weak. She will do whatever it takes to preserve her son’s legacy, even if it is fiction.

Clad in black and using a cane as a scepter, Tejero displays cunning in all interactions, as well as impatience and aggravation when things don’t go her way. She also conveys selfishness, an appalling lack of civility as a socialite and less-than-gracious hostess.

Cathy’s mother and brother, Mrs. Holly and George, eager to not have anything interfere with the $100,000 inheritance bequeathed by Sebastian in his will, are trying not to act anxious, but their true colors emerge. Rengin Altay as the fretful in-law, and Harrison Farmer, as her ambitious son, comfortably service Williams’ script in these stock characters.

In other supporting roles are Bethany Barr as Violet’s accommodating assistant Miss Foxhill, and Ieshah Edwards as the not-so-compassionate Sister Felicity.

Of course, Williams would name characters Venable and Felicity, as he mines his life for a sad exploration of horrible human behavior.

Photo by Suzy Gorman

The production team has enhanced the Southern gothic moods, with captivating lighting design by Matthew McCarthy, evocative set design by James Wolk, and polished period costume design by Dottie Marshall Englis. Henry Palkes’ original music score, this third for TWSTL, adds so much texture to these productions.

What is missing in Williams’ play is the protagonist, and it is up to the cast to flesh out Sebastian, and all his contradictions, through the filters of his mother and cousin. The actors conjure up graphic images through their ability to craft a portrait through language.

Many of Williams’ tortured soul characters face moral dilemmas, either as prey or predator, to survive in an unforgiving world. Randolph’s unnerving portrait of a victim shatters the norms, which is what Williams so often does.

While her performance leaves a lasting impression, that’s not the only memorable aspect. The nuance and craft have left their mark on this eighth annual festival, which continually surprises with new ways and different angles to Williams’ storytelling.

The Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis presents “Suddenly Last Summer” Sept. 7 – 17, with Thursday through Saturday performances at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. in the Catherine B. Berges Theatre at COCA, University City. For more information, visit www.twstl.org

Photos by Suzy Gorman

Bradley Tejeda by Suzy Gorman

Upstream Theater Presents Refuge and Reconciliation on You Tube

Upstream Theater Presents Refuge and Reconciliation on You Tube

To close our first (and we hope only) virtual season, we offer another retrospective of some of our past shows that explore themes related to refuge and asylum, as well as reconciling with past injury and injustice. The video will open on YouTube, FridayJune 18 at 8 PM and follow our usual show schedule.

.WATCH OUR BRIEF TEASER ANYTIME! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R7ypzUMaOs

Once again we reached out to a number of actors, directors, designers and even a critic (!) — and we hope this foray behind the scenes conveys how grateful we are to have so many talented professionals in our collective.

To view the actual video please use the link below:

REFUGE AND RECONCILIATION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgwAywfT0Nw


(starts at 8PM) June 18 – 20 June 24 – 27July 1- 4

Contributors include: Steve Callahan, Eric J. Conners, J. Samuel Davis, Kareem Deanes, Shanara Gabrielle, Laura Hanson, David A. N. Jackson, Erin Kelley, Amy Loui, Peter Mayer, Brian McClelland, Scott Neale, Jane Paradise, Mona Sabau, Patrick Siler, Bonnie Taylor, Lisa Tejero, Jaqueline Thompson, and Magan Wiles.

When Frederick Met Susan: ‘The Agitators’ at Upstream

When Frederick Met Susan: ‘The Agitators’ at Upstream

By Andrea BraunContributing Writer

The title of the play is based on Frederick Douglass’ exhorting his followers to “Agitate. Agitate. Agitate.” This was later in his life, long after he met and became friends with Susan B. Anthony who was already doing just that in her late 20s.

Their friendship would last 45 years and their goals remain the same, though there are bumps in the road: both supported abolition and women’s rights. But it wasn’t all sweetness and light between them because while their causes meshed, their priorities didn’t always do the same. The Agitators now playing at Upstream Theater is an examination of their near-lifelong connection, allowing both of them time to make their points. Perhaps a bit too much time, however, because much of the play seems rather like a lecture. This is is certainly not to say it isn’t mostly well-done, disturbingly timely, and certainly worth a couple of hours of your time.

Douglass (J. Samuel Davis) is close to Anthony’s (Erin Kelley) father, an outspoken abolitionist, and a Quaker. Because of her religion, she tells Douglass early on, even if she could vote, she wouldn’t because Quakers are supposed to be apolitical. Later, she would leave the Society of Friends and change her mind about voting, but when we meet her, the women’s rights question is her priority, along with abolition. Act I begins at the Anthony residence and covers 1849-1869. Act II picks up in 1870 and takes us through 1895.

Playwright Mat Smart has a tough job here: The time
period covered is so long that even though projections help us with what year
it is and where we are, we still get the impression that these two spend a
great deal of time together expressing their views on civil rights. The fact
is, often they would go years without seeing each other, sometimes because they
were busy, other times, because they were angry.

Their longest disagreement was about Douglass’ support
of the 15th Amendments to the Constitution which proposed enfranchisement
of black men but not any women. Unsurprisingly, Anthony takes umbrage at his
support of what she considers a half-measure. She is also angry that Douglass
is accepting financial support from a man she considers a misogynist. This
quarrel leads to their longest period of non-communication.

 He spoke at her
conferences and she appeared at his. Both of them were among the best known
figures of their time. Anthony was the only leader in the 19th
century women’s movement culminating in the meeting in Seneca Falls, NY in
1848. And one should not think that Douglass didn’t support Anthony fully in
her drive for equality; rather, he thought it was too soon and would come when
the time was right. Of course, women got the vote in 1920, long after these
icons were gone.

Photo by ProPhotoSTLAs for any sense of a love story, the affection between the two is palpable, but Douglass was happily married to his wife, Anna (a free black woman who helped him attain his freedom) and after she died, a much younger woman. He also was attractive to women and there is speculation that he had others, but one of them was NOT Susan B. Anthony.

They both wrote books—he a four-volume autobiography; she, in collaboration with other leaders of the movement, a multi-volume treatise on her own beliefs and the causes the women held dear. One good joke is that neither reads the other’s work.

There are more moments of humor that leaven the
proceedings, my favorite being Douglass explaining baseball to Anthony at his
son’s game. It is amusing, until due to a racist incident, it isn’t. They tell
each other bad jokes and engage in teasing banter. At one point, when he is 76
years old, Anthony gives Douglas a pair of ice skates. He is, of course,
nonplussed. But she was a great believer in physical exercise and the moment
demonstrates both their similarities and their differences.

The atmosphere of the play is enhanced by the musical  compositions of and performance by Syrhea
Conaway, a well-known and versatile St. Louis artist. When we first see
Douglass, he is carrying a violin. At several points in the show, he appears to
play his instrument in duets with her that can run the gamut from ethereal to
anger. She uses percussion to round out the sound, and it works beautifully.
The set itself is simple—beams, planks and boxes which get shifted around
often—perhaps rather too often, as it can become distracting. There is a
connection to the story, however, when Anthony tells a story involving a suitor
who wooed her with a warmed plank.

Stage Manager Patrick Huber is responsible for the
lights, as well is the set, and they provide a proper atmosphere, if too dark
at times. Michele Friedman Siler’s costumes are historically accurate except
for the anachronistic zippers on Anthony’s boots. Lisa Tejero directs, assisted
by Patience Davis. They keep things moving to the extent that it is possible
when there are so very many words for the actors to say, but despite their
efforts, the production still seems static some of the time. The fact that it’s
a running trope that Anthony cannot sit down is, I assume, supposed to give us
the illusion of motion.

If there are better actors than Kelley and Davis to
play these parts, I don’t know who they are. There were a few stumbles at the
beginning, but when the two hit their stride, all was well from a performance
standpoint. I believed them and more important, I think THEY believed them too.

The last public statement Douglass made was at Seneca Falls saying “When I ran away from slavery, it was for myself; when I advocated emancipation, it was for my people, but when I took up for the rights of women, self was out of the question, and I found a little nobility in the act.”

He and Anthony are buried in the same cemetery in Rochester, NY, her home town. Together in death, as in life, one wonders what they might have to say about racism and misogyny in 2019.

“The Agitators” is at Upstream Theater through Oct. 13 at the Kranzberg Arts Center. You may contact upstreamtheater.org