REVIEW: Tennessee Williams' SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER Is Presented With Simplicity At Ensemble Theatre

Friday 19th May 2023, 8:15pm, Ensemble Theatre

Shaun Rennie (Director) allows Tennessee Williams' words to be the hero of the night as he presents a captivatingly simple expression of SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER at Ensemble Theatre. Gathering a strong cast for the short work, the intimate space of the Ensemble Theatre heightens the intensity of the thought-provoking piece that still holds a relevance 66 years after it was first written.

Set in the house and gardens of the Venable home in the Garden District of New Orleans in 1936, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER focuses on the life of the now deceased Sebastian Venable, the beloved son of socialite Violet Venable (Belinda Giblin). The previous summer, Sebastian had traded his tradition of having his mother for company during his seasonal holidays in favor of his cousin Catherine (Andrea Demetriades). As Mrs Venable guides the visiting Doctor Cukrowicz, or Doctor Sugar (Remy Hii) as he anglicizes his name, through Sebastian's Garden of exotic and carnivorous plants that she intends to let die now that he is gone, she shares stories of her son and her concerns that Catherine be treated for the "memories" that she refuses to believe are real. In order for the Doctor to assess Catherine, it has been arranged that she be released from the private mental asylum for the day and Catherine's mother Mrs Holly (Valerie Bader) and her brother George (Socratis Otto) take the opportunity to try to stop Catherine from jeopardizing the finalization of Sebastian's will but Catherine still believes that she is telling the truth and convinces the Doctor to administer a truth serum in order to be sure she isnt making up the allegations around Sebastian's demise.

With the stage cleared of the roadhouse kitchen of CLYDE'S which is playing in repertory, set and costume designer Simone Romaniuk (also designer for CLYDE'S) presents a simple expression of the lush gardens and Sebastian's treasured hothouse plants. Large Perspex boxes housing a collection of plants double as movable pieces of furniture while the concrete floor has shadows of ivy tendrils creeping across the stage. Long subtly printed semi-sheers span the stage, allowing characters to lurk in the shadows or emerge from the tropical jungle gardens. Romaniuk captures the spirit of the 1930's Deep South with the cast sporting cream tones, suitable for the warm climate and signature of the social status that the Venable and Holly families held. Romaniuk ensures that it is clear that Catherine is the 'outsider' of the story as the only one not concerned with maintaining an image or attempting to win favor, dressing Demetriades in a scarlet dress and heels, a link to the opinion that Mrs Venable seems to have of her niece as being the cause of her son's death. Kelly Ryall's compositions and sound design gives the work a powerful soundscape, from the birds of the garden to the sounds of Cabeza De Lobo, the Spanish town that was the location of Catherine and Sebastian's final trip.

The intimate space of Ensemble theatre allows the audience to feel the intensity of Violet and Catherine's recollections as they paint differing views of Sebastian and the trips they shared with him. Belinda Giblin exhibits a maniacal undertone as she recalls a trip with Sebastian to the Galapagos Islands, which she refers to with Herman Melville's name for the islands, Encantadas. She ensures that the physically frail woman is seen as still having a psychological and social force that those dependent on her, particularly financially, are loath to challenge. Similarly, Andrea Demetriades ensures that Catherine's memories are something that can't be challenged, particularly when she knows her story stays the same under the influence of the medication. While the only reinforcement of Catherine's monologue is the soundscape playing out the sounds of where the young woman has gone in her mind, Demetriades ensures that the recollection is relayed with captivating intensity.

Surrounding the battle of Sebastian's two travelling companions, the rest of the characters reinforce the various ways they, like Sebastian, are willing to use other people for their own gain. Whilst most skeptical of the group, Remy Hii ensures that there is still an undertone of appeasement in the doctors dealings with Violet as he hopes to secure a donation towards his work. Valerie Bader gives Catherine's mother Mrs Holly an air of someone trying to retain the image of respectability and propriety but deep down more than willing to sacrifice her daughter's medical welfare for her own financial security. Her son George has the same focus and Socratis Otto weaves deftly between making it clear that George is only acting nice and concerned to his sister to the unbridled anger that for once he's charms arent working and he may not get his own way as he is probably not all that dissimilar to his late cousin in being the focus of his mother's attention and praise.

With the attitudes towards mental health and the ethics of treatment methods still under question in the 21st Century, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER retains a relevance. Tennessee Williams highlights Violet's desire to use a lobotomy to 'fix' Catherine, and more importantly, stop her talking about what she knows is more than likely linked to his own experience with his sister's lobotomy in 1943 that left her institutionalized for the rest of her life. The desire to silence what we don't want to hear still remains and it is still done through mind-games and manipulation like gas-lighting and physically silencing and discrediting. There is still a culture where those with money, power and status can buy silence to manipulate the ability for the truth to come out. People still use each other for their own gain, some for financial reasons, some for psychological reasons and when any relationship is broken down, is there really ever a connection with absolutely no underlying need beyond just being there. Regardless of whether you are well acquainted with Tennessee Williams' works, this production of SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER is well worth catching

https://www.ensemble.com.au/shows/suddenly-last-summer/