Theater Review: Five by Tenn - Five Landmark Plays by Tennessee Williams, New York - Page 11

So, too, in the small space of the Turtle's Shell Theater — a mere stone’s throw away from the Broadway venues where his greatest works were performed — one can almost discern the ghost of Williams still abroad. Some of the great actors and actresses who brought his characters to life have attested to the fact that he seemed delighted with virtually every new production and adaptation of his work. One can almost imagine spying him in the audience — his shoulders, perhaps, shaking with laughter as he occasionally talks back to his own characters — as friends and colleagues sometimes caught him doing when he first saw another of his works realized on stage, screen, or television.

Williams would doubtless be pleased with this postmodern rendering of his earlier works, which pays posthumous homage to his self-declared masterpiece Vieux Carre.

In fact, a spate of recent postmodern takes on William’s works also pay homage to his enduring influence. One of the most ambitious and masterful of these is the award winning film by the Spanish director Pedro Almodovar. His widely-acclaimed All About my Mother is a veritable homage to, and retelling of, A Streetcar Named Desire with a brilliant postmodern twist. In this film, William’s “love that dare not speak its name” is allowed to shout for all to hear, as the director openly explores such erstwhile “forbidden” topics as transvestitism, gay fatherhood via an impregnated nun, AIDS, drug addiction, and all the other “dark” themes which ran so surreptitiously throughout Williams’ work. Perhaps Almodovar’s final dedication at the end of the film might also be aptly applied to Williams’s life’s work as well:

"To all actresses who have played actresses. To all women who act. To men who act and become women. To all the people who want to be mothers. To my mother."

Natalie E. Carter and Emily Arrington in Thank You, Kind Spirit
Five by Tenn is presented by Turtle Shell Productions, The Terrapin Troupe, and Off the Leash Productions and is directed by John W. Cooper, founder and artistic director of Turtle Shell Productions.

Turtle Shell Productions aspires to create theater with a focus on current issues, ethics, culture, and history. It provides a safe haven where youth and artists may grow in their craft and develop practical skills, while collaborating on productions that celebrate the universal truths of human experience and inspire the community.

PRODUCTION

Director John W. Cooper is an award winning actor as well as producer, artistic director and founder of Turtle Shell Productions, which has produced over ninety plays, including an acclaimed presentation of Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke in 2004.

Article Author: Elvira Black

Elvira Black is a “retired” New York writer blogging for her own amusement here on BC. Her passions are politics, the arts, the weird things we do, and New York City.

Visit Elvira Black's author page — Elvira Black's Blog