Embrace the Night
Southern Rep is at its finest with their newest production of Tennessee William’s The Night of the Iguana. The Art Klub warehouse on Elysian Fields in the Marigny provides a perfect location for this play.
You can check more here for talent and work in the show biz: https://mirandadavidsonstudios.com
The audience truly feels like they have been transported to a “tropical paradise” where an assortment of characters find themselves at the end of their ropes, much like the iguana tied to the post in the show.
David Raphael’s beautiful set conveys the mood excellently as you feel like you are in the midst of a Mexican rainforest. Major suggestion, there is hardly if any climate control, so I suggest you bring one of those little hand fans (you too can feel like a true Southern Belle); it gets quite stuffy at times.
But that aside, director Phillip Karnell has done a brilliant job in bringing to life one of Tennessee Williams most celebrated plays. The 1964 movie version directed by John Houston and starring Ava Gardner, Richard Burton and Deborah Kerr received four Oscar nominations winning the Academy Award for Best Costume Design (B&W).
At the center of the story is Mike Harkins who plays the Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon, a defrocked minister who has been institutionalized. Since his release, he now works as a tour guide for a shady travel company. He brings his group, a busload of religious women from Texas, to a cheap hotel on the Mexican coast run by his friends Fred and Maxine. His party has now turned against him because of a indiscretion with one of the underage girls on the bus, Charlotte Goodall, played fabulously by Tiffany Wolf.
Harkins give a solid performance as a man battling some major personal demons as he struggles between his loyalty to the church and his own carnal desires. Upon arrival to the hotel, he finds that Fred has died and Maxine is now in charge employing several lusty houseboys to keep her occupied so to speak.
Trio Bechet is simply radiant as the bawdy hotelier who elicits a powerful strength. She also has some of the more comical moments of this play which has some great one liners used to break up the more serious moments. Through her tough exterior, Bechet brings a poignant compassion and charm to the character that sees Shannon as an answer to her quest for love, but is relegated to a deeper friendship. And her facial expressions at times are absolutely priceless. Aimee Hayes delivers another great performance as another of William’s most memorable female characters Hannah Jelkes. Like her portrayal of Blanche in A Streetcar named Desire, Hayes once again provides another strong performance.
Rounding out the large cast is Bob Edes Jr. who shines in the role of Nonno, Hannah’s aging grandfather and Tracey Collins as Miss Judith Fellows, one of the very few overtly lesbian characters in Williams’ play.
This adaption of The Night of the Iguana is not to be missed. The show has been held over through April 13, 2014. The shows are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. For tickets or more information, call 504-522-6545 or go to www.southernrep.com. The Art Klub is located at 527 Elysian Fields.
Tony Leggio
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