Sean Power - Reviews & Interviews

Le Vieux Carré
27 Feb 1992 - The Gazette:
"Vieux Carré a must for Tennessee Williams fans" (by Pat Donnelly)

Vieux Carré a must for Tennessee Williams fans

PAT DONELLY
GAZETTE THEATRE CRITIC

Vieux Carré is Tennessee Williams's portrait of the artist as an innocent young man in a seedy New Orleans rooming house.

First produced in New York in 1977, six years before Williams choked to death on a bottle cap, Vieux Carré closed about five minutes after the reviews came out. It was a bomb; now it's a curiosity.

The National Theatre School production of Vieux Carré now playing at Centaur Theatre is an impressive effort, a must for Williams fans. Everyone else is likely to be underwhelmed although Williams at his worst was far better than most playwrights at their best.

The play is notab1e for its trademark Southern lyricism, sharply etched and colorful characters. wayward drifting plot and frank discussions of homosexuality and homophobia.

D'Arcy Poultney's cut-away set. exposing rooms on three levels of the decrepit boarding house. is visually enticing. Weeping willows evoke the night haunted bayou mood. Director Erie Steiner has carefully modulated the pace and kept the focus on the actors.

All the NTS students justify themselves but Missy Christensen gives an outstanding performance as Mrs. Wire, The landlady who rules with an iron skillet. Her accent is refreshingly amsistent and she manages to make her Southern-belle-gone-sour character larger than life without ringing false.

Leigh Rivenbark hits a poignant note of freshly corrupted innocence as The Writer. His scenes opposite Marcus Youssef, as Nightingale, the ailing painter, are the strongest in the play. Sean Power's Tye, the strip-show barker, has plenty of raw sex appeal. Karen Turner has some nice moments as his girlfriend Jane, but she doesn't take the role half as far as it could go and her vocal projection is weak. Xavier MacDonald doesn't do much with the role of the religious fanatic Nursie, either.

Marcia Laskowski is a wonderfully dotty Mary Maude. But Alanis King-Odjig. who plays her fellow bag lady Miss Carrie. needs to loosen up to age up.

Since admission is free this is easily the best theatre bargain in town. Its main drawback is its 8:30 p.m. starting time. At almost three hours duration, with intermission, it makes for a late evening.

Vieux Carré by Tennessee Williams, presented by the English Section of the National Theatre School at Centaur Theatre, 453 St. François Xavier St. in Old Montreal through Saturday. Admission is free For information. Call 288-31161.

Sean Power (left), Leigh Rivenbark in National Theatre School's Vieux Carré.