Reviewed by James Karas
There seems to be a serious hiatus in the production of plays by Tennessee Williams. We get the occasional staging but not nearly enough. Summer and Smoke, his 1948 play produced by Crow’s Theatre and Soulpepper is a welcome exception.
The
play has a Prologue and twelve scenes and Williams gave detailed instructions
about the set design. There are 16 characters listed in the script but the
current production has 14 characters done by seven actors. There is a scene
with Alma and John as children which has been omitted in the current production.
Summer and Smoke is one of Williams’ less successful plays when
compared to The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire but it
contains many of his theatrical insignias from fragile women to unrequited love
and life in the town of Glorious Hill, Mississippi
from the turn of the twentieth century to 1916.
The
core story is the relationship of Alma Winemiller (bahia watson), John Buchanan
Jr. (Dan Mousseau), Nellie (Bella Reyes) of the younger generation and Alma’s
parents Rev. Winemiller (Beau Dixon) and Mrs. Winemiller (Amy Rutherford), Dr.
John Buchanan and input from the other characters.
John
Buchanan Jr. is a new doctor who trained at the elite Johns Hopkins Medical
School . He is physically attracted to Alma who is is more interested in a
spiritual relationship. Alma acts erratically, fidgets, has a nervous laugh and
takes sleeping pills to calm her nerves during the day. She is clearly not
ready for a physical relationship. A superb performance by watson.
Mousseau is excellent as John a self-assured, sophisticated young man who does not believe in the existence of a soul and pursues the good life. He tells Alma that she has a doppelganger, a different person inside her that guides her behavior. He descends into heavy drinking and betting until he matures into a different person.
Beau
Dixon as the Reverend Winemiller is a bastion of morality and he has to endure
his unhinged wife who has a passion for licking ice cream cones. The senior Dr.
Buchanan is furious with his son who behaves disgracefully. The actors are
experienced and do fine work.
The
play is done in Crow’s theatre-in-the-round which presents limitations in set design
and scenery. This forces the use of a few props for the dozen scenes that must
be handled quickly. A bench and a square low table indicate the park on the 4th
of July with the attendant fireworks. The interiors may have a couple of tables
with or without tablecloths and a few chairs, all of them brought on or off the
spacious playing area by the cast. Full marks to Lorenzo Savoini for set and
lighting design.
The
opening scene showed a huge statue of a headless and armless winged goddess
that was very impressive. A torso of the upper body with exposed innards was
used by the junior Buchanan to show human anatomy and perhaps carnal desire
without the intervention or existence of a soul.
Of
the seven actors, only Mousseau and watson play one role. The others, with admirable
versatility, take two or three roles and I want to give due credit for their
work. Dixon plays Papa Gonzales in addition to Winemiller while Rutherford has
the additional part of Mrs. Barrett. Kaleb Horn plays Young Man, Dusty and
Roger. Stuart Hughes handles Vernon as well as Dr. Buchanan Sr. and Reyes plays
Rosa and Rosemary in addition to Nellie.
Summer and Smoke takes place in Mississippi which calls for a southern
drawl. I don’t wish to dwell on that but will note that there was unevenness in
the success of giving us that accent. Watson did a fine job, Mousseau’s Buchanan
had a less pronounced drawl perhaps because he was educated in Baltimore and
may have gentrified his speech.
Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams in a production by Crow’s Theatre in partnership with Soulpepper, in association with Birdland Theatre, will run until March 1, 2026, at Crow’s Theatre, 345 Carlaw Avenue, Toronto, Ontario. http://crowstheatre.com/
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