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.
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
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