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Suddenly Last Summer.
- Tour.
This play premiered in 1958.
Playwright - Tennessee Williams.
Director - Michael Grandage.
Designer - Christopher Oram.
Lighting Designer - Howard Harrison.
Music and Sound Score - Adam Cork.
Company - Sheffield Theatres Their
Website.
Cast - here .
Venue Seen - King's Theatre, Edinburgh 0131
529 6000.
Dates & Times in Edinburgh - 9 - 13 March at 7:30pm and Wed
& Sat mat at 2:30pm..
2003 Tour Dates and Times - here .
Run Time - 1hr 30mins (no interval).
Seen To Review - King's Theatre on 9 March 2004.
Reviewer - Ksenija Horvat.
Gripping, uneasy energy.
Looking at Tennessee Williams' plays overall; one is immediately taken
by their overwhelming sensuality. Williams saturates all of his audiences'
senses in the richness of textures and atmospheres that remain unparalleled
compared to the work of his contemporaries, and Suddenly Last Summer is
a good example of the intensity of emotions and imagery for which his
work is renowned.
From the outset, The Sheffield Theatres production immerses the audience
in the sultry decaying world, under the impeccable direction of Michael
Grandage, through the sounds and visuals that recall the full extent of
the emotional trauma and the sense of doom that pervades the play. The
audience feels thrown into this strange, distorted world of the protagonists'
subconsciousness. The luscious set by Christopher Oram partly affirming
the Christian/Pagan theme of the Lord's sacrifice that underscores the
text, and partly plays upon the image of the turmoil of one's subconscious
mind. The reek of violence is heavily in the air, highlighted by Howard
Harrison's seamless atmospheric lighting design and Adam Cork's powerful
music score.
The threat that this visual, auditory and olfactory opulence could end
up dominating the stage is emphasised by the first twenty minutes of static
dialogue between Mrs Venable, Diana Rigg, and Doctor Cukrowicz,
Mark Bazeley. The audience is left to rely upon a powerful symbolic
parable told by Mrs Venable, and in those early moments, Diana Rigg
does not completely convince us that she is a bitter, lonely woman mourning
the sudden death of her son. While Mark Bazeley offers a blasé
portrayal of Doctor Cukrowicz that is oddly inert.
However, the stakes change with the appearance of Victoria Hamilton's
Catherine. The moment when Hamilton appears on the stage is the
moment when the play begins to build up momentum. Her stage persona adds
gripping, uneasy energy, which takes over the centrepiece of this strange
world of clichés, and we are ready to believe her in an instant
right to the moment of telling her gruesome account. The rest of the cast
remain in the shadows, giving the further prominence to the unlikely synergy
of two female protagonists, Catherine and Mrs Venable, who are brought
together as the voluntary victims of Mrs Venable's son Sebastian's passions.
This production asks difficult questions about the possibility of the
existence of a single truth, about human nature, passions and transgressions
that may lead to violence and it's definitely worth seeing.
© Ksenija Horvat, 9 March 2004 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
Cast:Mrs Venable - Diana Rigg, Doctor Cukrowicz
- Mark Bazeley, Jennifer McEvoy, Patrick Kennedy, Abigail McKern, Catherine
- Victoria Hamilton, Virginia Denham.
2004 Tour Details of Sheffield Theatre's production
of Suddenly Last Summer .
Tour begins
9 Mar - 13 Mar at Edinburgh Kings Theatre 0131
529 6000.
16 Mar - 20 Mar at Salford The Lowry Centre 0161 876 2022.
20 Apr - 24 Apr at Richmond Theatre 020 8940 0088.
6 May - 31 Jul at London WC2N Albery Theatre 020 7438 9703.
Theatre Editor, Thelma Good's e-mail is
thelma@edinburghguide.com
Although every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the
information presented in these pages, no responsibility can be accepted
for any errors or omissions.
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