This evening of one-act plays by Tennessee Williams starts off like a languorous porch-sitting Southern afternoon--which is to say, slowly. But if you can stave off the temptation to stretch out into napping position through Act One, you're in for a treat in Act Two, which has strong acting and the added benefit of more riveting plays.
The evening opens with This Property Is Condemned (starring Tim Karasawa and Crystal Robison) and Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen (with Marisa Parker and Adrian R'Mante), two meditative pieces in which the characters seem to be called upon to deliver monologues to each other, as opposed to actually engage. About halfway through the second one, you can't help but yearn for conflict that's maybe a little less internal. Moony's Kid Don't Cry (with Damon Shalit and Devin Price), about a young man beginning to crack under the stress of fatherhood, which ends the first half of the evening, moves a little in this direction. The second part opens with Auto Da Fe (with Barbara Gruen and Tony Lee), a play about a sexually confused son and his deeply religious mother. Hello From Bertha (with Ann Partrich and Erica Clare in the main roles), about a dying prostitute, follows, and the evening ends with the powerful Portrait of a Madonna (starring Jonelle Allen with strong support from Earl Carroll and Mark Collier), about a middle-aged spinster's descent into insanity.
There are several standout performances. Gruen as Mme. Duvenet is eerie and sympathetic, with a nicely threatening simmering anger. Partrich as Bertha also gives a strong performance, deftly and mercifully avoiding sentimentality in what is essentially a prolonged death scene. And, of course, Allen's performance as Miss Collins alone makes the evening worth it; her portrayal is heartbreaking. Carroll, as the apartment house porter, plays the role with a nice combination of clumsy tenderness and empathy.
Anthony Barnao's presentation of the plays is smooth overall, and he has elicited some very impressive performances. He might want to consider reordering the plays and suggesting to some of the actors that if they can't do or sustain a drawl to just drop it, as there were several instances in which lines seemed to get lost as actors grappled with accents.
The set design by Ronnie Walsh--an all-white stage, spare and gleaming--was a nice way to accommodate the lushness of Williams' language.