Playwright: Robert Tsarov
At: Rhinoceros Theater Festival at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave.
Phone: 773-539-7838; $15 or pay-what-you-can
Through: Oct. 28
BY SCOTT C. MORGAN
Samuel Beckett may be the playwright with the most representation and influence at this year's Rhinoceros Theater Festival. But one play on Tennessee Williams stands out with impressive credentials.
For its regional premiere, Tennessee Speaks in Tongues for You ( Or the 3 1/2 Character Play ) features direction by John McNaughton ( of the 1986 cult film Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer ) and is by New Orleans-based Robert Tsarov. The play straddles a difficult line between a derivative homage and critical spoof of Williams' writing.
Sure enough, Tsarov has stuffed the play with hallmarks of Williams' work: hot-and-humid poetry, desperate characters at the ends of their ropes and a climax with over-the-top symbolic violence. It's not a deliberate one-work parody like Christopher Durang's Glass Menagerie spoof For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls, but more of a post-modern examination of how Williams' life ( including his homosexuality ) intersects with his work.
One thing working against the play is actor Rick Lazarus, who plays the ailing Southern gentleman playwright himself. Lazarus unconvincingly carries the long exposition-heavy monologue that opens the show ( and introduces the specifics of a real-life tongue-devouring parasite that appears later ) . Lazarus isn't commanding enough with his flashes of haughty anger or with his frequent side trips reliving his post-drunken revelry.
When Lazarus is interacting with the other two characters, he's fine. But with a late 9:30 p.m. start time, it takes a tiring time before we meet the possibly murderous ( and possibly incestuous ) brother-and-sister team of Margo and Joe.
As paranoid hideouts living in abandoned and soon-to-be demolished buildings, Nick Leininger's Joe and Alexandra Blatt's Margo inject a bolt of drama to wake up audiences. Sure, they have to pretend to eat cat food ( it's their main diet of what's left in the building ) , but Leininger and Blatt grip their roles with their teeth and don't let go.
The brother and sister each get a spooky Pirandello-like confrontation with a predatory Williams ( who is either dictating their dialogue or eavesdropping on the pair ) . If only director McNaughton could have pushed up the pace of the rest of the play to match with these confrontational scenes.
Whether audiences will get what Tsarov accomplishes in Tennessee Speaks in Tongues depends on their familiarity with Williams' work ( particularly Suddenly Last Summer or The Two Character Play ) . Tsarov's play falls more into the homage than spoof camp, though there are still plenty of laughs at Williams' expense.
Go if you want a Tennessee Williams-like play with heaping doses of Tsarov's idea of his writing style and the man himself. Just stock up on the caffeine beforehand.