A story on a human scale
‘The Night of the Iguana’ opens in Newport
By K. Athena Suckow and T. Sean Prescott
For the TODAY
If indeed there is an underbelly to humanity, a Tennessee Williams' play has a knack for turning to and tickling it. Built around rich dialogue and beguiling characters who compel affection despite, or perhaps because of, their imperfections, the scenes are set. It could be the heat. It could be the drinking. It could be the sordid behavior. Whatever the reason, passions run high in Williams' “The Night of the Iguana,” opening at the Newport Performing Arts Center this Friday, Oct. 16 and continuing through Sunday, Nov. 1.
The story takes place in a Mexican seaside hotel in the particularly stormy summer of 1940. Colorful, complex characters come together to create an eclectic ensemble. T. Lawrence Shannon, a recently institutionalized priest turned tour guide, is played by Cody Larsen. Mary Griffith plays Maxine Falk, a newly widowed but pragmatic hotel owner. Hannah Jelkes, a painter traveling with her frail grandfather, is played by Jayne Calkins. A talented supporting cast plays the poet grandfather, hotel employees and a bus full of tourists including 16-year-old Charlotte Goodall, played by Shelley Arnold. All are artfully guided by the experienced hand of director Bonnie Ross.
The play was originally written as a short story in 1948. Williams adapted it into a one-act play that was staged in 1959 and then into two more full-length versions before it became a three-act play that hit Broadway in 1961 and ran for 316 performances.
Winner of a 1962 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, it was also nominated for three 1962 Tony Awards, including Best Play, two 1977 Drama Desk Awards and three 1992 Olivier Awards. Today, it is presented as a full-length, two-act play.
Though the story is woven with heavy ideas and uncomfortable revelations, the cast delights in the opportunity to perform it and has a deep reverence for the playwright. Calkins said she hopes to “do justice to the beautiful Tennessee Williams” and Griffith referred to him as “a bucket list author.” Larsen spoke to crafting his character with an understanding that he isn't a particularly sympathetic fellow. Larsen has earnestly taken on the challenge of “bringing out the humanity” in the role and described him as a man “desperately seeking redemption.”
Thematically, the story hints at the possible rescue and forgiveness of one's self and others. In unsettling ways, it explores the need for connection and the ways we falter on the path to find it. It shines a light on the dark corners of our human insecurities and asks how bravely we are willing to peer into them. Ross said that Williams uses this tale to study notions of good versus evil, as he so often did, “in particular, how good people can do bad things” and the question of “is there any good in an evil person?”
Those lines aren't clearly drawn — in this play as in life, we struggle to define where one ends and the other begins.
Perhaps grappling with those questions is part of what endears us to theater. We are able to sit safely in the cozy embrace of a shared moment and watch as our neighbors bring to life the words and visions of the authors that reflect back to us our own humanity. We can experience moments that will never be our own but still resonate with something familiar.
Don't miss your chance to see what promises to be a compelling performance of this critically acclaimed classic of American theater.
Presented by the Red Octopus Theatre Company “The Night of the Iguana” will play at the Newport Performing Arts Center, located at 777 W. Olive Street, through November 1 with evening shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 pm and Sunday matinées at 2 pm. Tickets are $25 for adults, $23 for seniors and $20 for students. For more information, go to coastarts.com or call 541-265-2787.