A Review

Storms Of The Heart

By R. J. Donovan

"Five By Tenn" is an evening of one-act plays by Tennessee Williams. As presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company, it's a seamless, poetic journey into a world of lonely souls searching for things that may never come to pass.

Williams is, of course, best known for such plays as "A Streetcar Named Desire," "The Glass Menagerie" and "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof," among others. In 2005, thirteen newly discovered Williams one act plays were unearthed. Written between the late 1930s and 50s, the pieces existed in manuscript form and were edited into text by scholars Nicholas Moschovakis and David Rossel to reflect Williams' final intentions.

Drawing from these pieces, several new productions have been mounted. The Kennedy Center, Manhattan Theatre Club and Hartford Stage have all taken a stab at assembling their own productions. Each varied the mix of plays.

At SpeakEasy, four of the five plays are receiving Boston premieres. The fifth aired on PBS in 1970. And pushing the envelope slightly from "Five By Tenn" to "Five And A Half By Tenn," SpeakEasy received special permission from the Williams estate to include an additional scene from one of Williams' last full-length plays, "Vieux Carre."

The production opens with "These Are The Stairs You Have To Watch," focusing on a timid usher who's taken a job he didn't really want in a theater he'd rather not to be in. This blends into "Summer By The Lake" (left), featuring a smothering mother and her conflicted son. The piece explores themes Williams would later feature in "The Glass Menagerie." The lights fade on the mother to come up on Scene Two from "Vieux Carre" as a young writer undergoes a creative and sexual awakening in a New Orleans flop house.

We next visit with an aging transvestite in "And Tell Sad Stories Of The Death of Queens." The emphasis on aging and the passage of time continues with "I Can't Imagine Tomorrow" and "Mister Paradise." Both of the latter two pieces tear at the heart, with "Tomorrow" including a positively lyrical description of pain and "Paradise" dealing with the suggested revival of a writer who exists only in the past.

Janie E. Howland's beautifully designed, two-tiered set bows to the seedy decadence of the French Quarter, aided by Karen Perlow's seductive lighting.

Eric Rubbe (photo above) is clearly the stand-in for the playwright in this highly autobiographical collection. First as the timid usher, later as Donald, the suffocating son at the lake and finally in "I Can't Imagine Tomorrow," he falls easily into a smoky southern accent and effortlessly wraps himself in his characters.

Anne Scurria (above with Rubbe) is very good as Donald's diva mother, fretting the heat and her social obligations. Will McGarrahan becomes the willing guide for the young writer's sexual awakening in "Vieux Carre."

Allyn Burrows goes from designer to drag queen in "Tell Sad Stories" with Christopher Brophy as his dangerous, rough trade companion.

William Young (left with Rubbe) starts off with the rather thankless role of the theater owner in the opening piece, only to return at the end of the night to command the stage in both "Tomorrow" and "Mister Paradise." He handles his speeches with aplomb, delivering eloquent passages about poetry, the previously mentioned pain and the motion of life.

Rounding out the company are Mary Klug as the emotionless "yes ma'am" maid at the lake, and Ellen Adair, who, in "Mister Paradise" wants to stage a revival of Paradise's work.

In the end, the man (other than Mr. Williams) who's pulling the strings is director Scott Edmiston. His concept and artful vision have taken us to another time and place. Often painfully frank, the journey is passionate and penetrating.

The SpeakEasy Stage Company production of "Five By Tenn" is at Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street in Boston, through February 25. For information, call 617-933-8600.

Production Photos: Craig Bailey / Perspective Photo

-- OnStage Boston

02/03/06

 
 
 
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