Review: EIGHT BY TENN: Alas, a Menagerie

Eight by Tenn

Short plays by Tennessee Williams

Direction & Scenic Design, David J. Miller; Costume Design, Matthew Solomon; Lighting Design, Erik Fox; Sound Design, Matthew Good; Stage Manager, Cicilia Annais Rios

CAST (in alphabetical order): Rae Bell, Michelle Dowd, Kelley Estes, Jake Orozco-Herman, Damon Singletary, Alexandra Smith, Karin Trachtenberg, Zach Winston

Performances through October 8 by Zeitgeist Stage Company at Plaza Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston, MA; Box Office 617-933-8600 or www.ZeitgeistStage.com

Tennessee Williams is among the foremost American Playwrights of the twentieth century. He was a prolific author who also wrote short stories, poetry, novels, and essays. Although best-known for his acclaimed full-length plays, among them The Glass Menagerie, Pulitzer Prize-winner A Streetcar Named Desire, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Williams also wrote volumes of one-act plays. Zeitgeist Stage Company is presenting a collection of those shorter works in Eight by Tenn, drawn from several decades of the playwright's career, offering a view into the development of some of his characters who would appear in later plays.

One thing shared by the eight short plays is their pedigree, the trademark lyrical writing style that makes Williams Williams. Owing to their minimal length, not all characters are equally developed, and this poses a challenge for the actors. Artistic Director David J. Miller is at the helm of the production which features an eight-member ensemble comprised of three newcomers and five returnees. The performances are uneven, depending on the roles, the pairing of scene partners, and the level of experience.

Damon Singletary and Michelle Dowd do strong work as a sexually repressed son and his mother in Auto-Da-Fe. One might even say that his interpretation is a fiery one, but unfortunately, it is the only play that features Singletary. (He is onstage very briefly in two others.) Dowd also shines in The Unsatisfactory Supper as an elderly aunt who overstays her welcome in the home of young relatives. Aunt Rose is a nurturing, earth mother-type who gets her heart stomped on by her niece's insensitive oaf of a husband (Zach Winston), perhaps an early sketch of Stanley Kowalski.

Karin Trachtenberg makes her Zeitgeist debut with a trio of dramatic characterizations which she differentiates nicely. She warms up as a landlady-with-a-heart-of-stone (The Lady of Larkspur Lotion), oozes Southern etiquette as a mask for her insecurities (Something Unspoken), and thoroughly inhabits a former artist suffering from an emotional breakdown (The One Exception). In the latter, Trachtenberg's fingers tremble almost imperceptibly as an adjunct to the fragility she conveys by her tentative movements and the expression of terror she wears on her wan face. She successfully creates large characters by highlighting small details.

Working with Zeitgeist for the first time, Alexandra Smith is tasked with most of the heavy lifting, with mixed results. There is a sameness to the women she plays, or, at least, a sameness to the way in which she plays them. Presumably, Director Miller made the choice for her to go over the top with her interpretations and at high volume. These women shout so much that it is impossible to differentiate which statements have greater import, comparable to using all caps in an email or text message. If you can get past those issues, however, Smith shows a knack for getting under the skin of her complicated characters who are either delusional, desperate, or just not very nice. In A Perfect Analysis Given by a Parrot, she and Kelly Estes play two catty women on the town during a national convention who give new meaning to the phrase "with friends like these, who needs enemies?" Estes is much more sympathetic as a companion to Trachtenberg's artist (The One Exception).

In addition to the insensitive oaf, Winston plays a drunken writer trying to rescue a damsel in distress (The Lady of Larkspur Lotion), and a hotel porter showing some kindness to one of Smith's crazies (Portrait of a Madonna). Jake Orozco-Herman is adequate in a couple of supporting roles, but seems unsure of what to do with himself as the 16-year old sounding board for a precocious young adolescent girl (Rae Bell) in This Property is Condemned, the opening play. A student at Brookline High, the 17-year old Bell is making her debut with Zeitgeist. Casting her as the 13-year old Willie makes sense and she captures her youthful, devil-may-care attitude. However, she is unable to convey the tragedy of the girl's life (she lives alone in the condemned house) and her underlying fear covered by bravado. Bell is in over her head as Baby Doll, the oaf's wife in The Unsatisfactory Supper. I thought she was his kid sister.

Miller's scenic design is simple, but Erik Fox varies the lighting hues to provide diverse atmospheres, and Matthew Solomon creates some splashy fashions for the women. Sound Designer Matthew Good finds appropriate musical selections to fill the space between scenes as the cast rearranges the furniture. At Zeitgeist Stage, the design elements generally serve to frame the play, and "the play's the thing." Eight by Tenn offers an array of eight plays which are not all created equal.

Photo credit: Richard Hall/Silverline Images (Alexandra Smith)

To post a comment, you must register and login.