Review: Tennessee Williams Theatre Company's SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH

Tennessee Williams’ SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, an underrated tale of comebacks and second chances while desperately clinging to the past, is the playwright’s latest steamy, brutal Southern drama to hit the stage in New Orleans.

This intense yet underrated melodrama produced by the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company is running now through August 19 at the Marigny Opera House.

SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH is the story of Chance Wayne, a washed-up gigolo desperate for one last break. He’s returned to his Gulf Coast home of St. Cloud, and with him in tow is Alexandra del Lago, a fading Hollywood starlet on her own bender of booze, drugs, sex and even oxygen after fleeing from a disastrous comeback film.

While Alexandra, who now goes by Princess Kosmonopolis, exploits Chance’s youth and sexual prowess to combat her fears of aging, Chance intends to use Alexandra to advance his abysmal acting career. And now that he’s back home, he plots to whisk away his childhood sweetheart, the beautiful and aptly named, Heavenly. But St. Cloud wants nothing to do with Chance Wayne as he learns that he previously infected Heavenly with a venereal disease that led to an operation leaving her barren. Her father, Boss Finley, is determined to see him run out of St. Cloud or have him castrated. Or worse.

Like many of Williams’s previous works, SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH is ripe with the themes of desperation, lost youth, the prevalence of sexual potency and the dark consequences of sex. Each character is affected or influenced by another’s sexual value. Even Boss Finley, who preaches about the importance of purity, has a kept mistress.

Director Doug Spearman, who recently saw stage success with Crescent City Stage’s production of Vanya, Sonia, Sasha and Spike, digs deep into the poetry and symbolism of Williams, creating terrific performances filled with colorful confrontations and vivid characters.

Rachel Whitman Groves as Alexandra is excellent. While a bit desperate for attention and affection, and at times comical, there is organized chaos in her character. Even when fueled by pills, vodka and nerves, Groves’s Alexandra has a commanding presence. Williams, obsessed with youth and in the twilight years of his success when the script was written, captured himself in the faded Hollywood legend Alexandra del Lago. Her fears of lost youth, lost beauty, her terror at aging and failing artistic ambitions are Williams’s fears.

Tattooed and muscular, Santo Panzarella has a tougher job playing the part of the boastful lover Chance, one of Williams’s few male leads. It’s difficult to see him as more than a boy toy with dreams of making it big on the silver screen. However, his narcissism and love for Heavenly reveal a complex character, ultimately leading to his downfall. The final scene is heavy, but it’s hard to see precisely how Chance moved from self-delusion to self-sacrifice.

However, each scene between Chance and Alexandra, two desperate people clinging to the vain hope that the ravages of time won’t touch them, resonates. Like a title match, their relationship – one of mutual opportunism turned mutual dependence – dominates the first act and it’s engaging to see who will win the upper hand.

Rounding out the cast is John Wettermark, as the rich and hypocritical Boss Finley, who has no qualms about committing foul acts of “religion” on black men and represents everything hateful about the South. As Heavenly, Betsy Holt represents the powerless of women, which is ironic since she is quite underwritten. Though she is rife with resentment towards her father and Chance, she cannot fight back. There is an undeniably strong urge to see her confront Chance, but sadly, it never comes. Perhaps that is the critical moment Chance’s journey needed.

Brandi-Rose Michael is charming as Miss Lucy, Finley’s mistress. She may be a kept woman, but she is not complacent. Judy Lea Steele contributes a welcome return to TWTC with human warmth as Aunt Nonnie, and Brandon Kotfila is both charming and despicable as Finley’s bullying son Tom, Jr., who is charged with protecting the family name and ridding St. Cloud of Chance Wayne once and for all.

With this being the fifth production in the Marigny Opera House, TWTC knows how to work with the strength of the venue’s architecture to create engaging scenic design. Steve Schepker (scenic design) and James Lanius (projections) created high projection screens to hover over the stage in the former church, utilizing the vaulted ceilings, showing either caged birds or the luxury of a hotel. Nick Shackleford’s sound design was expressive and created an effective backdrop for the actors, while lights by Adachi Pimental created a perfect feel for Williams’s work.

SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH is at Marigny Opera House with an extended run through August 19.

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