The works of Tennessee Williams are known primarily for two things: a heavy Southern influence and deep, brooding themes concerning the nature of humanity. His less popular play, “Orpheus Descending,” certainly does not stray from these distinctive markings, and the production of the show put on by the AU Department of Performing Arts was able to do the play justice.
Directed by CAS Director of Theatre Carl Menninger, the show was the department’s second offering of the year, providing a somber break after the irreverent Stephen Sondheim musical, “Company,” and before the Shakespearean play, “Measure for Measure.”
The plot revolves around the arrival of Valentine Xavier, a classic drifter-musician character, to a small Southern town and his subsequent affair with dry-goods shop owner Lady Torrance. Suspicion among the townsfolk against Val rises before coming to a dramatic head near the end of the second act.
“The concept of being on the outside, being an outsider, is just as relevant now in the wake of 9/11,” Menninger said in an interview with The Eagle. “And that is what the play is about: people seeing an outsider as threatening when he is really nonthreatening.”
The first thing an audience member notices about “Orpheus” is also one of its strongest traits: the set. The action of the play never once moved from the aforementioned store, and it was meticulously recreated with individually labeled goods and pale plywood construction that perfectly invokes the archetypal image of the old-style, Southern general store.
This is ultimately what “Orpheus” succeeded the best at: creating a living world. The set, lights, music and costumes worked together seamlessly to create an immensely convincing portrait of a southern town. The play deals heavily in themes of denial and repressed emotion in a society that does not allow free expression. Without a well-crafted backdrop to provide that society, none of those themes would come through at all.
Of course, themes also need competent actors to be communicated, and once again “Orpheus” did not disappoint. AU senior and department staple Kelsea Edgerly gives a riveting performance as Lady, the tortured wife of the despicable Jabe Torrance, chillingly portrayed by AU junior Adi Stein. Aside from the occasional unrefined Southern accent, every member of the supporting cast played their roles well, which is important in a play that is relatively heavy on ancillary characters.
“Student actors have a willingness to experience this in a passionate and energizing way,” Menninger said. “It’s not just a job yet, they are driven solely by their passion and their desire to create and explore. There is a kind of newness to the process that I love.”
The sole weak performance was unfortunately the character of Valentine Xavier, portrayed by 2005 AU alumnus Ryan Graham. Graham is certainly competent, but he lacked the onstage energy and ease of communication his castmates had mastered. The role of Valentine Xavier needs a certain threatening smoothness to work, and Graham’s often stilted delivery ensured that he never quite got to that point.
This minor blemish was not enough to stop “Orpheus Descending” from being a production that achieves what so many fail to: entertainment and enlightenment. Performers told a classic story of a drifter who shakes up a small town, while managing to effortlessly weave Williams’ themes of freedom and vision and love into the plot.
All those involved in the production make a world that can seem so foreign to us city-slickers feel as natural as being home onstage.
thescene@theeagleonline.com
