Out-of-date story still well told
By TOM VALEO
Published March 20, 2007
American Stage has done an impressive job with a 1958 Tennessee Williams play that looks very quaint today, and a little weird.
With heavy symbolism and lyrical monologues, Suddenly Last Summer tells the story of Sebastian Venable, a sensitive homosexual poet who wrote but one poem a year, and then, shortly after turning 40, died under mysterious circumstances while vacationing with his beloved cousin Catharine (Katherine Michelle Tanner). Because the young woman's account of the death is so grotesque and threatens to expose not just Sebastian's homosexuality but also his predilection for boys, Mrs. Venable (Lisa McMillan) tries to silence Catharine by persuading Dr. Cukrowicz (Chris Friday), a gifted brain surgeon, to perform a lobotomy on her.
The garden courtyard where the play takes place emerges as a symbol of Sebastian and his disturbing relationship with his mother, who, wittingly or not, procured boys for her son on their frequent trips. The garden, a self-contained hideaway that effectively locked mother and son in their own world, contains a Venus flytrap, a flesh-eating plant that represents Sebastian's voracious sexual appetite.
Mrs. Venable maintains that her son was chaste, although he was so beautiful, he also was "chased" by those who desired him. When her delusions start to collapse as Catharine tells her story, so does the courtyard, right before the audience's eyes.
The cast, which also includes T. Scott Wooten, Jessica K. Peterson, Brandii Edwards and Melanie Souza, performs capably, although the Juilliard-trained McMillan, who has appeared on Broadway, nearly overpowers the production with her strong, intimidating performance as imperious Mrs. Venable.
When Suddenly Last Summer debuted off-Broadway, Williams said he expected to be run out of town because of its sexual content, but it received favorable reviews and was made into a film the next year starring Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift.
Today, such subject matter barely causes a ripple. Williams' lyrical language, however, combined with his layered symbolism, seems starkly out of date now that poetry has been pushed to the margins of our culture and the poet is rarely viewed as a noble martyr.
Review
'Suddenly Last Summer'
The play runs through April 15 at American Stage, 211 Third St. S, St. Petersburg. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday. $22-$31. (727) 823-7529 .