Date: Fri 15-Sep-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-10

Quick Words:

Williams-Period-of-Adjustment

Full Text:

Theatre Review-

After Period of Adjustment, Little Theatre Is Just Fine

(with photo)

By Julie Stern

Tennessee Williams, one of the great American playwrights of this century, is

best known for his devastating portraits of southern families in decline -

from A Streetcar Named Desire to The Glass Menagerie . He did write one

full-length comedy, Period of Adjustment , which is on stage at Newtown's

Little Theatre for the rest of the month.

Not only does this production remind viewers just how good a writer Williams

is, but it shows that this summer's success with Shakespeare was not just a

one-time fluke: In departing from its pattern of outdated farces and clunky

mysteries, the Little Theatre is tackling "real" theatre, and with admirable

results.

Period of Adjustment 's opening premise is intriguing. On Christmas eve, the

newly-wedded George and Isabel arrive at the Nashville home of George's old

Army buddy, Ralph Bates. Before Isabel can say "Bring in just my little zipper

bag, not all my suitcases," George has summarily dumped her things in the

hallway and taken off for parts unknown.

Under Ralph's sympathetic questioning, Isabel reveals she feels trapped in a

nightmare. After a whirlwind courtship in which she was the pert student nurse

who met the handsome, brooding war hero in a St. Louis hospital - where

doctors could find no physical reason for his bad case of the shakes - her new

husband has turned into a sullen brute. Immediately after the wedding he

informed her he had quit his job and they were going to drive across the

country in an unheated funeral limousine, looking up his old friends from the

war. Drinking constantly, he treats her with cold silence, alternating with

physical advances so crude the marriage remains unconsummated.

Can this marriage be saved? And where is Mrs Ralph Bates, anyhow, on this

Christmas eve when the fire is burning and the tree is surrounded by presents

but the house's only other occupant is seemingly a terrier named Lucie? This

is what the audience will eventually find out, and it is definitely worth the

wait.

Suzanne Kinnear has done a highly professional job directing Adjustment . With

good, crisp pacing, she gets the most out of an excellent cast. Missy

Slaymaker is delightful as the confused young bride, by turns wistful,

outraged and flirtatious, as she tries to make sense of what is happening to

her while minding her manners as a house guest.

Gary Nastu gives the best performance, as Ralph, who is simmering his own

secret beneath his veneer of Good Old Boy affability, just as his suburban

house shudders with the tremors that come from the vast cavern that lies below

its foundation, spreading ominous cracks through the pastel walls.

When the distraught George, played with frantic intensity by John Delutio,

returns and confides to his buddy that he has to get out of this marriage,

Ralph pours drinks and gentles them down and tells them they are each going

through a "period of adjustment" that is normal to any marriage.

This is a play about the need for gentleness and patience and understanding,

served up with Williams' flare for southern gothic and bizarre detail. It

makes one wish he had written more like this.

The cast is rounded out by Debra Creedon, as Ralph's unexpectedly wise and

resolute wife; and Ron Sullivan and Martha Bishop as her dreadful parents, the

McGillicuddys. Joan Stanley as their maid, Susie, manages to infuse her set

phrase "Yes, ma'am," with a wide range of dramatic interpretations. Also, Alex

Kolesar's richly realized set deserves commendation.

In short, this is good theatre, entertaining and moving, demonstrating beyond

a doubt that in their 60th year of operation, the Town Players are doing just

fine.

Don't miss this one.

Tennessee Williams' Period of Adjustment will continue at Newtown's Little

Theatre, on Orchard Hill Road, though September 30. Performances are Friday

and Saturday evenings at 8:30. Call 270-9144 for tickets or additional

information.