Suddenly Last Summer

Synopsis

Sebastian died suddenly last summer. His family's inborn pride leads them to reject the bizarre, horrific circumstances of his death. In Tennessee Williams haunting and visceral masterpiece, the truth must not prevail.

Our Review:

17 May 2004

NOTE: The following review dates from February 2002 and this production's initial run at the Sheffield Lyceum.

It’s an ominous set. A monolithic steel cylinder stands beneath and just beyond the proscenium arch, while shafts of pristine white light stretch out across the theatre, through torn holes in the structure, as if someone had been at it with an axe.

While you’re mulling quietly over approaches to Tennessee Williams’ symbolism, Michael Grandage’s production of Suddenly Last Summer starts violently, launching parts of the audience from their seats with a sonic explosion. The ruined metal splits open to reveal a triptych depicting a horror-tangled jungle of a garden, carpeted with moss and littered with incongruous red flowers.

Add to Christopher Oram's monumental design some superbly dynamic acting from Diana Rigg and Victoria Hamilton and you can forgive just about anything.

Williams was himself undergoing psychoan...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (81.130.107.144) - 20 July 2004:

This is like a Kinder Surprise egg - genius design, delicious packaging, disappointing at heart. The design is excellent but it does create anticipation that the play can't live up to. The same is true of the soundscape which is a remarkable thing in itself but dominates the production. The play itself is fascinating, and builds up the arrival of the young woman with the kind of expertise with which a great tragedy builds up its central character before his first appearance. But there is an unforgivable flaw: for its horror and tension, Williams relies on with-holding from his audience key information that ALL the characters know already. Which is cheating - disappointing. I thought Victoria Hamilton was superb and it's a great chance to see an of-the-moment actress really commanding a big theatre. But Diana Rigg needs to be frailer, more moving and, paradoxically, more menacing. Her house and garden terrify in ways she simply can't (or is that the point...?) It's not a bad performance in a clunky sense - it's completely believable. Just rather lazy. And there were some lines where I realised too late that that there was a (good) joke in there which Rigg (and subsequently I think half the audience) hadn't spotted. So - over-rated. And at about 85 minutes, overpriced. But it looks good, it's short, and it's better than the average West End play. But then, it's another tranfer. Tip: as with most plays at the moment, go early in the week, book a cheap ticket and you'll probably get a nice upgrade on arrival......

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