Wednesday, September 25, 2019

THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA – REVIEW OF PRODUCTION IN LONDON

James Karas

The Night of the Iguana, like many of Tennessee Williams plays, deals with people at the end of their rope. He wrote the play in 1961 but it takes place in 1940 in a run-down beach hotel in Mexico. It was inspired by some awful experiences Williams had in 1940.

The play has some fourteen characters but only four of them are of real consequence. Director James Macdonald delivers a well done production that brings out the strength and humanity of people who can barely cope with reality. 
 Clive Owen and Anna Gunn. Photo: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg
Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon (Clive Owen) is a defrocked minister who has been reduced to working as a tour guide on third-rate bus trips. He preached atheism, seduced young girls and has ended up as an alcoholic on the verge of a mental breakdown. On his last trip, he diverts the bus full of women to Maxine Faulk’s (Anna Gunn) hotel and takes the ignition key so that they will not be able to leave.

Owen gives a superb performance as the desperate, pathetic, humiliated former cleric who deteriorates so much that he must be tied to a hammock for his safety. A human being with almost nothing left who finds solace in drinking and tries to pretend that he can make a comeback as a minister when he is in fact in danger of being arrested for having sex with a minor. A bravura performance.

Maxine is another person on the edge. Her husband with whom she has had no relations except grunting for ten years has recently died. She flaunts her sexuality and finds solace in having a couple of Mexican studs service her. She has deep humanity but not much to support it with. Gunn has a full-throated laugh as if to hide reality and puts up a front of strength behind a vacuous existence. Marvelous performance.

Hannah Jelkes (Lia Williams) is a dried-up New England spinster who has difficulty finding means of survival. She paints. She has found some inner strength to help her survive but that does not conceal her actual desperation. Williams is prim, proper, and fights for tomorrow. Hannah understands Shannon better than he understands himself because she has been close to the edge herself. A highly sympathetic portrayal.

Hannah travels with her grandfather Nonno (Julian Glover), an old invalid who is trying to write his last poem. Another desperate man who is not just at the end of his “career” but at the end of his life and tries to achieve his crowning glory. 
                                              Scene fro The Night of the Iguana.  Photo: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg
The play has a number of other characters who are merely sketched in or not developed at all. There are four Nazis who march on and off the stage to some comic effect, the Mexican toy boys who entertain Maxine, and several others. They serve to move the plot  and give context to the lives of the other characters.

The set by Rae Smith is extraordinarily effective. The dilapidated hotel is situated in front of a huge cliff with the beach being reached by steps in front of the hotel. The lighting by Neil Austin is dark and dramatic and the storm scene highly realistic. Excellent production values overall.

Macdonald does terrific work in bringing one of Williams’ better plays to the stage one more time.     
___________
The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams continues until September 28, 2019 at the Noël Coward Theatre, 85-88 St Martin's Ln, Covent Garden, London WC2N 4AP.

James Karas is the Senior Editor – Culture of The Greek Press. www.greekpress.ca

No comments:

Post a Comment