Suddenly Last Summer
Brighton Open Air Theatre
In 1936, in the Garden District of New Orleans, Mrs. Violet Venable, an elderly socialite widow from a prominent local family, has invited a doctor to her home. She talks nostalgically about her son Sebastian, a poet who died under mysterious circumstances in Spain the previous summer. During the course of their conversation, she offers to make a generous donation to support the doctor’s psychiatric research if he will perform a lobotomy on Catherine, her niece, who has been confined to St. Mary, a private mental institution, at her expense since returning to America. Mrs. Venable is eager to “make her peaceful” once and for all by erasing her memories of Sebastian’s violent death and his homosexuality; Mrs. Venable is especially adamant that Catharine stop talking about the latter, in order to preserve her late son’s reputation.
Catherine arrives, followed by her mother and brother. They are also eager to suppress her version of events, since Mrs. Venable is threatening to keep Sebastian’s will in probate until she is satisfied, something Catherine’s family can’t afford to challenge but the doctor injects Catherine with a truth serum and she proceeds to give a scandalous account of Sebastian’s moral dissolution and the events leading up to his death.
Such a play with it’s themes of greed, truth, hypocrisy and sexual repression is a brave choice by any company, however, to also present it in the open-air without an interval makes the decision even more courageous. The Conor Baum Company has built up an excellent reputation which is further enhanced with this captivating production which boasts several very good performances.
After a rather slow start, the play really gets going with the arrival of the central figure in this disturbing story. Isabella McCarthy Somerville is utterly magnificent in the role of Catherine. Tennessee Williams’ script is verbose and full of poetic lyricism and McCarthy Somerville delivers every word with clarity and an outstanding ability to ensure the audience is listening to every syllable. Hers is one of the finest performances I have seen this year. Bravo!
Complementing her beautifully is Oliver Clayton as Dr Cukrowicz who gives a subtle and steadying performance in a play that requires a heightened acting style made even more so with the outdoor location. Clayton’s lines are similarly delivered with crystal clear audibility and the final scenes between these two classy actors are the highlight of this splendid production.
Solid performances from Deborah Kearne and Jordan Southwell as Catherine’s mother and brother and Jules Craig as Sister Felicity who gives a perfect example of making the most of a character with very little to say.
What really elevates this production is the creative input. Chilly Mullock’s costumes are vivacious and suitably colourful, Gary Sefton’s expansive sound design gives the whole thing a very dream-like quality and Conor Baum’s set design is simple but very effective. Baum also directs with aplomb and makes excellent use of the space (rather too much use of the audience area, perhaps). The production feels like a series of well composed photographs and as the sun sets and darkness falls, Beverley Grover’s clever lighting enhances the idea that watching this play should be like a waking dream.
Baum should be further complimented for his choice of such a demanding play and credit also goes to Will Mytum for programming such a piece. Brighton Open Air Theatre goes from strength to strength and shows like this will simply reinforce the theatre’s growing reputation for providing first class drama whilst other provincial theatres programme fewer and fewer plays.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reviewer: Patric Kearns