Quill Reading: Something Unspoken
May 30
Suddenly, Last Summer
by Tennessee Williams
directed by Jason Gerace
May 2 – June 17
In 1930’s New Orleans, wealthy socialite widow Violet Venable has summoned a brain surgeon to her home. Her niece Catherine has been crazed and traumatized since witnessing the horrifyingly violent death of Violet’s son. Enraged by Catherine’s claims, and unwilling to accept other facts about her son’s life, Mrs. Venable pursues extraordinary measures to keep Catherine silent.
Suddenly Last Summer originally opened on Broadway in 1958, toward the end of a 15-year period in which Williams produced his greatest and most popular works, from The Glass Menagerie (1944) through Sweet Bird of Youth (1959). The 1959 film adaptation starring Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift was a box office hit and earned Academy Award nominations for Hepburn and Taylor.
Tennessee Williams was a master playwright of the twentieth century, and his plays A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie, and Cat On A Hot Tin Roof are considered among the finest of the American stage. He is widely considered the greatest Southern playwright and one of the greatest playwrights in the history of American drama.
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Cast
Ayanna Bria Bakari (Sister Felicity)
Janyce Caraballo (Mrs. Foxhill)
Wardell Julius Clark (Dr. Cukrowicz)
Grayson Heyl (Catharine Holly)
Ann James (Mrs. Holly)
Mary K. Nigohosian (Violet Venable)
Andrew Rathgeber (George Holly)
Understudies
Steven Cooper (u/s Dr. Cukrowicz)
Colleen DeRosa (u/s Catherine Holly)
Valerie Gorman (u/s Mrs. Venable)
Song Marshall (u/s Miss Foxhill)
Susan McLaughlin Karp (u/s Mrs. Holly)
Matt Schutz (u/s George Holly)
Creative Team
Jason Gerace (Director)
Joanna Iwanicka (Set Designer)
Claire Chrzan (Lighting Designer)
Brittany Dee Bodley (Costume Designer)
Christopher Kriz (Original Music & Sound Designer)
Mary O’Dowd (Props Designer)
Alex Meyer (Stage Manager)