BWW Reviews: Tennessee Williams' SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER Is Taken To A New Level Utilizing Modern Technology

Friday 13th February 2015, Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House NSW

Sydney Theatre Company's Resident Director Kip Williams adds a new dimension to Tennessee William's already complex and surreal world of SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER as he pairs live video footage with live performance. This modern treatment of the 90minute one act play creates an intense experience and allows a deeper expression of the emotions as fine detail is focused on in a way that straight live performance cannot convey.

The use of live video footage can take a little while for the audience to become accustomed to as save for the entrance across stage of Mrs Violet Venable (Robyn Nevin) and Doctor 'Sugar' Cukrowicz (Mark Leonard Winter), who disappear through a door in a white wall on which images of lush foliage is projected, the first scenes are played out as video footage of the action occurring behind the wall. A mobile camera follows the pair as Mrs Venable introduces the Doctor to Sebastian's garden, peering through the jungle like greenery to eavesdrop on the conversation. The camera movements as they track the action and sweep to include Mrs Venable's maid Miss Foxhill's entrances can induce a slight motion sickness due to the speed and clarity of the projection on the wall that fills the whole proscenium. Once the stage rotates to show the live action, with the projection of detail on the rear wall occurs, the movement is less noticeable. In these instances, the cameras allow the audience to view the scene from multiple angles at once and can focus on faces and emotions.

The live footage allows the camera to focus in on actions and expressions, at points honing in to fill the screen with eyes filled with terror and sadness. It also allows action to be played out in more spaces than the traditional stage, a strategy that serves to blur lines between drawing the audience into the world of Mrs Venable's New Orleans home and garden and accepting that this is a play, taking place in a theatre and not trying to disguise the fact.

Nevin is powerful as the mother reminiscing about her deceased son that had been her world and her life. The Southern American conservative socialite that did everything with her son including attending events and travelling together to the point that friends knew them as "Violet and Sebastian" rather than Mrs Venable and her son. She is frightening as the aunt that blames her niece for her son's death and has had the young woman institutionalised and is prepared to subject her to horrific memory altering surgery, all to deny the nature of her son's life and death and 'protect his reputation'.

Eryn Jean Norvill, as niece Catherine Holly, is intense as she captures the young woman that has been in and out of psychiatric homes and hospitals and subject to all manner of therapy including shock therapy in an effort to rid her of the compulsion to share her account of her cousin's true self and his demise. Catherine is a woman that knows she is telling the truth but is frustrated with the fact that both her own mother and brother and her aunt all want her silent. She also seems to wish that she did not know the horrific truth that she needs to share.

Winter's Doctor 'Sugar', in a light cream three piece suit is the balance in the story as he draws out Mrs Venable's account of her son, and Catherine's truths with the aid of a Truth Serum. He remains calm through both discussions and following the administration of the Truth Serum.

Brandon McClelland as Mrs Venable's nephew, Catherine's brother, George Holly and Susan Prior, as Catherine and George's mother Mrs Holly, capture the greed that drives their meeting with Mrs Venable. George and Mrs Holly bully Catherine to keep her story quiet to enable Sebastian's estate to be distributed to Catherine and George whilst Catherine does not want be manipulated any further. George turns up to his Aunt's house in his cousin's clothes to further confirm the desperation that underlies their actions. Whilst both capture the natures well, Prior does appear a bit young for the role with it unclear if she is George's wife or sister until her position is specifically stated. The costuming and make-up do not really define her as being significantly older than Catherine.

Paula Arundell as Sister Felicity is precise in her role as Catherine's chaperone whilst she is on day release from the institution. She fits with the stereotypical nuns that used to terrorise schools, enforcing discipline without flexibility as she chases Catherine through the garden to retrieve a cigarette snuck from Mrs Venable's cigarette case as the institution prohibits smoking, despite Catherine's argument that they aren't at St Mary's at the moment yet has compassion when she realises the family Catherine must deal with. Miss Foxhill, portrayed by Melita Jurisic, is presented well as the nervous, high strung maid that you would expect from someone that had to deal with the demanding Mrs Venables daily.

Alice Babidge's simple set draws on the audience imagination combined with the clues in the dialogue. The location as 1930's New Orleans is defined by the costuming and the accents with Nevin and Norvil maintaining strong consistent Southern accents through the highly charged and emotional text. Sebastian's Garden is formed by clusters of assorted greenery, allowing for movement of both the performers and the camera crew with minimal additional props of a garden table and chairs and Mrs Venable's wheelchair. Scenes following Doctor 'Sugar' administering the Truth Serum play out on an empty stage, drawing on the imagery created by Catherine's memories. Stephan Gregory's (Composer and Sound Designer) sound deepens the mood particularly the drum beats as Catherine succumbs to the medicine and Catherine's account of the children that made percussion music outside of the restaurant she and Sebastian dined at when they sought to gain his attention.

This imagining of SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER is a powerful, complex work that sits between reality and imagination for both the characters, and the audience. Mrs Venable denies her son's true nature and prefers to create her own, sanitised, understanding of how her relationship with her son played out and belief that he was 'chaste'. She finds blaming her niece for becoming her son's companion for his life after he decided he could no longer travel with his mother is more palatable and refuses to accept the barbaric nature of his death. The live video layers this with its own manipulation of reality and imagination by forcing views and providing different perspectives on the same events.

This commanding performance is well worth seeing to challenge ideas and also question how far society has really come, or not. Mind altering therapies still exist, sexuality, whilst more openly discussed can still be a divisive subject, social standing can still be defining and greed remains ever present.

SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER

Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House

9 February - 21 March 2015

Photographs: Brett Boardman

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