Photo Source: Daniel G. Lam
Mark Bringelson directs "Green Eyes," the most scantily clad of the five plays. Set in New Orleans, it deals with a Vietnam-era G.I. (Brendan Brandt) and his new wife (Courtney Munch), whose marriage already seems to be disintegrating because of his neglect and possibly his violence and her possible infidelity.
"The Lady of Larkspur Lotion," directed by Bjørn Johnson, is a broad comedy and the most likable of the plays. It features characters Williams would recycle in altered form in his full-length "Vieux Carré." Mrs. Hardwicke-Moore (Cameron Meyer), a shady lady on her uppers, and the failed Writer (John Copeland) live, à la Blanche DuBois, on their illusions, and both are threatened with eviction by their landlady, Mrs. Wire (Mona Lee Wylde), who's tolerant of their errant behavior only so long as their rent is paid.
"The Traveling Companion," directed by Ron Klier, dates from later in Williams' career and features a self-portrait: a writer always on the move, with his portable typewriter and valise full of pills, deftly played by Tom Groenwald. The companion is Beau (Byron Field), a truculent, homophobic, and mercenary paid companion–hustler who's out for all he can get.
In "Moony's Kid Don't Cry," directed by Elina de Santos, Moony (Scott Sheldon), a former woodcutter, feels hemmed in and smothered by his factory job and his family responsibilities. When he threatens to walk out and head back to the North Woods, his spunky wife (Jade Sealey) hands him their baby and says, "Here, take this with you." This is the most naively touching of the plays, with a surprisingly tender ending.
"Auto-Da-Fé" is a piece of unabashed Southern Gothic, directed by Jack Stehlin. The conventionally religious Mme. Duvenet (Bibi Tinsley) is concerned by the nervous behavior of her neurotic, paranoid son Eloi (Anthony Cran). He has become unhinged because of a pornographic picture that fell out of an envelope at the post office, and he is about to implode from the conflict among his suppressed sexual urges, guilt, and passion for purity.
The physical production is minimal (no designer is credited) but effective, and each of the plays is solidly directed and acted.
Presented by The New American Theatre at the McCadden Place Theatre, 1157 N. McCadden Pl., Hollywood. Sept. 16-Oct. 15. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m. (310) 701-0788. www.newamericantheatre.com.
