Has anyone heard anything about the world premiere (!) of Tennessee Williams' "In Masks Outrageous and Austere" starring Shirley Knight? Is anybody familiar with the text? Cause i am afraid that they produced this only because it was a Tennessee Williams play never before done on stage and not because it is a strong piece.
It's a wild ride in a ramshackle vehicle, in which a spiritual cousin to Flora Goforth contemplates and confronts her disappointments and mortality. The play's formlessness is its principle defect, but that is more than offset by its outrageous humor and the author's trademark poetry and insights into the human condition. It's absurdust, hilarious, over-the-top, and mystifying. I loved it. Expertly staged and acted. Whatever its shortcomings, it towers over the pap that wins accolades and awards nowadays.
saw it over the weekend and had to leave at intermission, it was that bad. None of the themes are new for Tennessee Williams, but being he wrote it in the 80s just adds to the mess. I felt it was part DYNASTY, part STAR WARS, part CLOCKWORK ORANGE and part GAY PORN. ALTHOUGH, ALISON FRASER was good, She would have been the only reason for me to stay.
I want to see this, simply on the terms that I love Williams and I think it would be amazing to say, I saw the original production of one of his shows. If I was able to get a cheap enough ticket, do you think this is worth my time?
It's hard to say. I loved it. Kevin walked out at intermission. If you love Williams, I'd say there's enough in there to make it worth seeing. But there are no guarantees with this one.
That's what I gather too, and I've been closely following this for some time partly through the Tennessee Williams Society's great behind the scenes looks, which included some excerpts, but unlike AfterEight, I can't speak from actually seeing it. But if you love Williams, I think there's enough there to grasp onto--it sounds certainly more interesting than his "lost screenplay" that was filed a few years back, The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond which had some lovely poetry but little else.
Saw it last night. I'm a Tennessee nut. Read all the plays, seen all the films, read the short stories.... But what...the....hell...was... THAT?!
I couldn't tell you what happened/what it was about/who was who. And is it just me, or is Shirley Knight just not any good in this? A flat, almost one-note performance...
I wonder if Tennessee would've even wanted it to be seen. It is clearly disastrously unfinished.
That's definitely a fair point when it's come to a number of these recent Williams discoveries, like the film I mentioned. I guess, as long as it's made clear to audiences that it is at least in some way unfinished. It might be more worthwhile to rediscover some of his great, later plays that were initially dismissed (I guess Small Craft Warnings is meant to get a revival this Fall).
What was that?!?! It was completely fvcked up, god awful and fascinating at the same time. Shirley Knight and Alison Fraser were totally in sync with the style of the play and came off best. I'm really not sure what Fraser represented, but she had a fun time with the part.
You know from the first five minutes that nothing is going to be explained or ever really make any sense. Anyone looking for a straightforward story will want to leave, and many did at intermission. In fact the entire row behind me cleared out.
Every once and a while there was a beautiful line of poetry and insight, but really they were far and few between. Lord only knows what Williams was on when he wrote this, and one wonders if he would even have wanted this to receive a public performance.
I'm normally not one to hang around for a talkback, but this is the perfect type of show to hear from the cast and director to hear what they make of the material and how they prepared for it.
It's 100% worth seeing. With all the talk about safe, predictable theater in The Lyons thread tonight, this is anything but safe and predictable. It did create a lively discussion for my friend and me after as well.
The multi-media is excessive, but I think a valid take on the material. There are LED screens everywhere and the "house" they are held captive in is made of this weird half glass half mirror material.
The "plot" involves Knight, her husband (of an unconsummated marriage) and his gay lover who have been drugged and taken to a remote place, possibly in a foreign country. The three spend the entire play trying to figure out where they are and why they have been brought "wherever here is." The creative team has created an ultra-modern interpretation of this strange place they're being held captive. There "Gideons" walk around with Madonna headsets and pretty much never stop circling the rim of the theater.
This feels much more like Albee or Ionesco than Williams. I guess it felt closest to Exit the King of things I've seen. Definitely better than that dreadful Vieux Carre put on by The Wooster Group a few years ago.
I meant to type "The Gideons," not "There Gideons," but anyway!
There are three characters named Gideon, and referred to throughout the play as The Gideons. (They represent a much larger force, but only three are ever seen. Knight asks her secretary if she's a Gideon at one point as well.) There are in all black suits and wear sunglasses. Reminded me of Men in Black secret service type guys.
They were the ones holding the three hostage. They turned on the phones at times to allow certain phone calls, but they had the whole house/deck bugged and monitored all conversations and movements. They spoke into Madonna style headsets that were set to make their voices booming/menacing.
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joined:3/31/12
Posted: 4/6/12 at 09:55am