Alton Brown’s odd tour offers food for thought
The man who’s one part culinary instructor, one part mad scientist will hit Dr. Phillips Center.
Page 3 Films: “Still Alice,” “Jupiter Ascending.”
Inside Stage: “Orpheus” review.
“Orpheus Descending” is so patently a Tennessee Williams play that at times it nearly resembles a parody of the great American playwright. Yet Dark Side of Saturn, an Orlando-based theater troupe, credibly finds the underlying romantic lyricism of Williams’ writing. Its production, directed by Tara Rewis, also smartly grounds its central characters in real life — giving the audience a way to relate to these bruised souls.
The production goes a bit off course with some of the smaller parts, in which performers are too obviously acting their roles rather than embodying them. But that disparity also speaks to the strength found in the leading trio of Leesa Castaneda, Andy Matchett and Vera Varlamov.
Their roles come straight from Williams’ playbook: Lady (Castaneda), trapped in a 1950s small Southern town she despises; Val (Matchett), the stranger exuding sexual heat and shaking things up; and Carol (Varlamov), the fragile beauty who has seen better days.
But each of those actors draws a wideranging portrait. They’re all weak, but they’re all strong. They’re all despairing, yet they all have hope. They’re all human.
The Orpheus of the title was not so grounded in reality. He comes from Greek mythology, where he was a musician of remarkable charm. He tried to use that charm to bring his wife back from the dead but ultimately met his own sad fate from those who weren’t moved by his music.
Williams, author of “The Glass Menagerie”
Theater review
What: “Orpheus Descending” When: 7 p.m. today-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday Where: Lowndes Shakespeare Center, 812 E. Rollins St., Orlando Tickets: $20 Online: sideofsaturn.com and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” uses “Orpheus Descending” to retell the myth. While Lady goes about the drudgery of daily life, her husband — whom she doesn’t love — lies dying. But Lady’s spirit is already dead, until Val blows into town, guitar in hand. Tall, handsome and curiously sensitive, he speaks in obvious metaphors about birds that soar in the skies, only coming to earth when they die.
Will there be a happy ending? Did you miss the part about this coming from Tennessee Williams?
Casey Blanton’s period set design captures the flavor of the old-time general store but also beautifully looks cagelike around these trapped characters. Scott Bruce lights the set in deep red, magenta or purple but often with no apparent correlation to the activity onstage.
Director Rewis handles the drama well, but the comedy — and there’s quite a bit of comedy — feels forced, less real. (It doesn’t help that two comic players are trapped under obviously stagy wigs.)
The spirit of Williams, however, is plainly on view.