Resources & Links
http://broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=15037
This site gave great descriptions of one of the productions. It included many pictures which gave me a better understanding of what the production might look like.
http://www.seesummerandsmoke.com/
I used this site probably the most since it was one of the most current as well as largely stated productions. It was very informative with its pictures and information of Tennessee Williams.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_and_Smoke
Wikipedia listed many of the past productions as well as the actors. It was a very descriptive site.
http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc9.htm
I was able to get a better understanding of the author and where some of his ideas arose from. This was a very informative site of Tennessee Williams and various works.
http://london.broadway.com/photo_op/id/3004679#
I really liked the productions stills from this site. It was different then some of the other sites that I had seen which helped me enjoy the production a little better.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Dramaturg's Statement
Summer and Smoke is one of Tennessee William's most notable works. It is filled with romance and passion which is very appealing to an audience. Before this particular play can be produced the production team has to discuss several things.
One of the most important things is the time period. The play is set between 1900-1916 and it is crucial to have everything historically correct. This particular time period is called the Progressive Era. This was a time period of great change as well as new ideas and concepts of ways of living. Everything from the vehicles to the telephone visually looked very different of what we use today.
Another thing that is very important is the location. The play is written around the south and its natural beauty which almost becomes another character. Majority of the play is set outside and should really reflect the authenticity of Mississippi.
The title of the play sounds very basic yet it has an underlining feeling. The words Summer & Smoke are two things that can be perceived as being very sexy. It is a play on words that can sound perfectly innocent yet they can also hint at the plays seduction through "smoke and mirrors" concept if you will.
The last big thing to consider is how to stage this play. In the script some of the most important parts take place outside in front of a fountain. Also many scenes take place under the stars. It would be challenging to decipher what is more important, the outside or inside scenes. The scenes indoor are at the town rectory which are very poignant as well as Johns home and Alma's family home.
Summer and Smoke is one of Tennessee William's most notable works. It is filled with romance and passion which is very appealing to an audience. Before this particular play can be produced the production team has to discuss several things.
One of the most important things is the time period. The play is set between 1900-1916 and it is crucial to have everything historically correct. This particular time period is called the Progressive Era. This was a time period of great change as well as new ideas and concepts of ways of living. Everything from the vehicles to the telephone visually looked very different of what we use today.
Another thing that is very important is the location. The play is written around the south and its natural beauty which almost becomes another character. Majority of the play is set outside and should really reflect the authenticity of Mississippi.
The title of the play sounds very basic yet it has an underlining feeling. The words Summer & Smoke are two things that can be perceived as being very sexy. It is a play on words that can sound perfectly innocent yet they can also hint at the plays seduction through "smoke and mirrors" concept if you will.
The last big thing to consider is how to stage this play. In the script some of the most important parts take place outside in front of a fountain. Also many scenes take place under the stars. It would be challenging to decipher what is more important, the outside or inside scenes. The scenes indoor are at the town rectory which are very poignant as well as Johns home and Alma's family home.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Educator's Packet of Summer & Smoke (for a high school level)
Alma: female, Caucasian, early 30's. the fragile, lonely, and oversensitive daughter of a minister. She often nervously rings her hands. The caregiver to her mother.
John: male, Caucasian, late 30's. A physician who resents following his fathers lead. A lively character who enjoys the nightlife.
Rev. Winemiller: male, Caucasian, 50's. A reverend, Alma's father.
Mrs. Winemiller: female, Caucasian, 50's. Very childish, has to be taken care of by Alma. Requires a lot of care and attention.
Dr. Buchanan: male, Caucasian, 50's. A respected physician. The father of John.
Rosa Gonzales: female, Hispanic, 20's. John's on again off again girlfriend.
Papa Gonzales: male, Hispanic, late 40's. Owner of the Moon Lake Casino. The father of Rosa Gonzales.
Nellie Ewell: female, Caucasian, early twenties. A music student of Alma's. Later becomes John's bride.
Mrs. Bassett: female, Caucasian, elderly. The town gossip. Attends all the rectory meetings.
Roger Doremus: male, Caucasian, mid 30's. plays the French horn. Attends all rectory meetings.
Mr. Kramer: male, Caucasian, 40's. Small in stature.
Rosemary: female, Caucasian, elderly. Very bossy. Member of the rectory meetings.
Vernon: male, Caucasian, 50's. Attends the town meetings. Recites and writes his own verse plays.
Dusty: male, Caucasian, 20's, waiter.
- About the Play
Setting: Set in Mississippi from the turn of the century through 1916.
Story: The story is considered to be a romantic drama full of repressed passion between the two main characters, Alma and John. Alma, a young woman who is fragile, lonely, and oversensitive struggles to form a connection with the man she has always loved. John, a handsome son of the town's respected doctor, confuses Alma by his actions. He is know for his flirtatious ways. - Main Character Breakdown
Alma: female, Caucasian, early 30's. the fragile, lonely, and oversensitive daughter of a minister. She often nervously rings her hands. The caregiver to her mother.
John: male, Caucasian, late 30's. A physician who resents following his fathers lead. A lively character who enjoys the nightlife.
Rev. Winemiller: male, Caucasian, 50's. A reverend, Alma's father.
Mrs. Winemiller: female, Caucasian, 50's. Very childish, has to be taken care of by Alma. Requires a lot of care and attention.
Dr. Buchanan: male, Caucasian, 50's. A respected physician. The father of John.
Rosa Gonzales: female, Hispanic, 20's. John's on again off again girlfriend.
Papa Gonzales: male, Hispanic, late 40's. Owner of the Moon Lake Casino. The father of Rosa Gonzales.
Nellie Ewell: female, Caucasian, early twenties. A music student of Alma's. Later becomes John's bride.
Mrs. Bassett: female, Caucasian, elderly. The town gossip. Attends all the rectory meetings.
Roger Doremus: male, Caucasian, mid 30's. plays the French horn. Attends all rectory meetings.
Mr. Kramer: male, Caucasian, 40's. Small in stature.
Rosemary: female, Caucasian, elderly. Very bossy. Member of the rectory meetings.
Vernon: male, Caucasian, 50's. Attends the town meetings. Recites and writes his own verse plays.
Dusty: male, Caucasian, 20's, waiter.
- A Look inside Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), better known as Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright who received many of the top theatrical awards. He was born in Columbus, Mississippi, in the home of his paternal grandfather, the local Episcopal rector. The home is now the Mississippi Welcome Center and tourist office for the city. Williams' middle name, Lanier, indicates his family's Virginia connections to the artistic family from England, and earlier from Italy. In the early 1930s Williams attended the University of Missouri, where he joined Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. His fraternity brothers dubbed him "Tennessee" for his rich southern drawl. In the late 1930s, Williams transferred to Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri for a year, and finally earned a degree from the University of Iowa in 1938. He is one of America's greatest playwrights. Some of his works include: The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar named Desire, Cat on a Hot Ten Roof, The Night of the Iguana, and many more.
Production History:
Venue: Apollo Theatre
Location: London, England
Run dates: 2006
Producing agent or Producer: Stanhope Productions
Director: Adrian Noble
Designers: Peter McKintosh (set design), Deidre Clancy (costume design), Peter Mumford (lighting design)
Actors in lead roles: Rosamund Pike (Alma), Chris Carmack (John)
"But this is a play on a slow burn, and its final scenes are superb. It demonstrates many of the virtues that make Williams one of the supreme playwrights of the 20th century."
Financial Times
Venue: The Paper Mill Playhouse
Location: Millburn, New Jersey
Run Dates: Jan. 10-Feb. 11 2007
Production: Hartford Stage
Director: Michael Wilson
Designers: Tony Straiges (scenic design), Rui Rita (lighting design), David C. Woolard (costume design) and John Gromada (sound design and original music).
Actors in lead roles: Amanda Plummer (Alma), Kevin Anderson (john)
"Despite a rather large cast, our attention is drawn to the soul of the play, Alma's spiraling fall from grace. It remains as heartbreaking as that of any of Williams' heroines. This stunning revival can stand tall among anything currently on or off Broadway."
Curtain Up
Venue: Music Box Theatre
Location: New York, New York
Run dates: Oct. 6, 1948-Jan. 1, 1949
Produced and Directed by: Margo Jones
Designers: Scenic Design by Jo Mielziner; Lighting Design by Jo Mielziner; Costume Design by Rose Bogdanoff; Assistant to Mr. Mielziner: John HarveyActors in lead roles: Tod Andrews (john), Margaret Phillips (Alma)
"the production at the Music Box finds Tennessee Williams as fumbling and obvious as he is trenchant and evocative in 'A Streetcar Named Desire.'"
Google Answershttp://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/100619.htmlTaken from:"At the Theatre," by Brooks Atkinson. The New York Times (October 7,1948).
Venue: Criterion Center Stage Right
Location: New York, New York
Run dates: Sept. 5, 1996-Oct. 20, 1996
Directer: David Warren
Producer: The Roundabout Theatre Company
Designers: Derek McLane (set designer), Martin Pakledinaz (costume design), Brian MacDevitt (lighting design), John Gromada (sound)
Actors in lead roles: Harry Hamlin (John), Mary McDonnell (Alma)
Venue: Port City Playhouse
Location: Alexandria, Virginia
Run dates: June 2006
Producer: Don Neal Williams
Director: Rosemary Hartman
Designers: William Buchanan
Actors in lead roles: Maggie Keele (Alma), Richard Isaacs (John)
"The cast worked really well together. They all fit into their roles really well. The casting was really well done."
Show Biz Radio
Classroom Exercise
Each student will assume the persona of a character from Summer & Smoke. They will be able to create their own diary. The entries can include the character's various traits: sex, rank, personality, and social standing.
This will give the students a better understanding of the character's and the actions in the play.
5 Questions that may arise:
- Why do you think the play is titled Summer & Smoke?
- What was your overall concept?
- Specifically, what character did you connect with and why?
- After reading the script of Summer & Smoke, was the production of the play similar to what you expected?
- Do you think this play would be interpreted differently if it were set in modern day?
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Understanding the Time Period between 1900-1916
In order for the "Production Design Team" to fully understand all aspects of the play, they must understand the time when Summer & Smoke took place. This was a time period that called for extreme measures to bring about change. There were four goals of progressives. They were to promote moral reform, protect social welfare, create economic reform, and to improve factory efficiency.
http://www.sagehistory.net/progressive/index.html
http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/e-gov/e-politicalarchive-Progressive.htm
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1061.html
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/progress/prohib/prohib.html
http://www.onpower.org/history_prog.html
In order for the "Production Design Team" to fully understand all aspects of the play, they must understand the time when Summer & Smoke took place. This was a time period that called for extreme measures to bring about change. There were four goals of progressives. They were to promote moral reform, protect social welfare, create economic reform, and to improve factory efficiency.
http://www.sagehistory.net/progressive/index.html
http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/e-gov/e-politicalarchive-Progressive.htm
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1061.html
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/progress/prohib/prohib.html
http://www.onpower.org/history_prog.html
Production Photos
University of Illinois at Chicago
May 1984
Director: Caroline Dodge Latta
Scene Designer: Chris Harris
Port City Playhouse
Alexandria, Virginia
Run dates: June 2006
Director: Rosemary Hartman
Designers: William Buchanan
Criterion Center Stage Right
New York, New York
Run dates: Sept. 5, 1996-Oct. 20, 1996
Directer: David Warren
Designers: Derek McLane (set designer), Martin Pakledinaz (costume design), Brian MacDevitt (lighting design), John Gromada (sound)
Designers: Derek McLane (set designer), Martin Pakledinaz (costume design), Brian MacDevitt (lighting design), John Gromada (sound)
The Paper Mill Playhouse
Millburn, New Jersey
Director: Michael Wilson
Director: Michael Wilson
Designers: Tony Straiges (scenic design), Rui Rita (lighting design), David C. Woolard (costume design) and John Gromada (sound design and original music).
Apollo Theatre
London, England
2006
Director: Adrian Noble
Designers: Peter McKintosh (set design), Deidre Clancy (costume design), Peter Mumford (lighting design)
http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/14292/summer-and-smoke
Reviews
Financial Times
Summer and Smoke
By Alastair Macaulay
Published: October 20 2006
Now that the subjugation of women has again resumed front-page status, Tennessee Williams's rare play Summer and Smoke has more social relevance than one at first assumes. But during its first half this play seems to be a minor version of something better. A well-brought-up young lady falls headlong in love with a good-looking but none too well-behaved young man. We might almost be watching Showboat or Carousel. As he grows more depraved, more doomed, and her conflict of repression and desire is ever more evident, the play seems to be a lesser version of some other play by Tennessee Williams himself.
But this is a play on a slow burn, and its final scenes are superb. It demonstrates many of the virtues that make Williams one of the supreme playwrights of the 20th century. He is the finest master of the dramatic metaphor since Ibsen (the meanings of both "summer" and "smoke" here open poetically). And he has a piercing sympathy for the emotionally fragile. The story he tells of the repressed Alma ends up quite unlike that of his other heroines. The young doctor John learns from her about soul (smoke); she learns from him about the flesh (summer). He gives her sleeping pills; she remarks to another man: "The prescription number is 96814. I think of it as the telephone number of God."
Rosamund Pike reveals in Alma a deeply affecting blend of pathos, nobility and eloquence. Beautiful and fragile in looks, she plays the role with riveting focus. She is perfectly contrasted with the American actor Chris Carmack, with his fallen- angel charm and his mixture of sensual abandon and painful embarrassment. There is more than one kind of heartbreak in this play: "All rooms are lonely where there is only one person."
Summer and Smoke Press Reviews
http://www.seesummerandsmoke.com/
A Curtain Up New Jersey Review
Summer and Smoke
Review by Simon Saltzman based on performance January 14, 2007
An early work of Tennessee Williams, Summer and Smoke is filled with the rich and rueful lyricism that permeated The Glass Menagerie. That it also has a simmering erotic edge that ignited more viscerally in A Streetcar Named Desire, secures its place as a provocative and significant play in the Williams canon. This glorious co-production comes to the Paper Mill Playhouse from the Hartford Stage, where it was, and still is, directed with a gratifying balance of toughness and tenderness by Michael Wilson. Except for Kevin Anderson replacing Marc Kudisch in the role of John Buchanan Jr., the cast, including the marvelous and mesmerizing Amanda Plummer, remains in tact. That all the plays compassionate textures are also in tact is also good news.
There isn't a minor role that isn't given a memorable twist, including Alma's stifling friends and the bevy of Glorious Hill, Mississippi townspeople, dressed for all seasons by the talented David C. Woolard, who contribute to the social flavor and temperament of the times. Despite a rather large cast, our attention is drawn to the soul of the play, Alma's spiraling fall from grace. It remains as heartbreaking as that of any of Williams' heroines. This stunning revival can stand tall among anything currently on or off Broadway.
Curtain Up
http://www.curtainup.com/summerandsmokenj.html
New York Herald Tribune
Summer and Smoke
By: Howard Barnes
(October 7, 1948).
"the production at the Music Box finds Tennessee Williams as fumbling and obvious as he is trenchant and evocative in 'A Streetcar Named Desire.'"
Google Answers
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/100619.html
Taken from:
"At the Theatre," by Brooks Atkinson. The New York Times (October 7,1948).
The New York Times
The Hope of Connection in William's World
By BEN BRANTLEY
Published: September 6, 1996, Friday
But under the direction of David Warren, ''Summer and Smoke'' does indeed unfold as an awkward clash of elements that goes way beyond its central paradox. A musical sense of tempo is crucial to playing anything by Williams; here, nearly everyone seems to be following a different orchestral baton.
Consider, for example, the actual music meant to set the mood for the production. John Gromada's lovely piano-based score is plaintive, understated and elegiac, conforming to the traditional reading of the play as a sort of tone poem. The acting, on the other hand, is most often either manic and overwrought or flat and mechanical. Humorous passages stand out like one-liners, and lines that should probably be murmured are screamed.
Add to this the fact that the star performances -- by Mary McDonnell as Alma Winemiller, a repressed, genteel spinster, and Harry Hamlin as John Buchanan Jr., the hedonistic doctor she loves -- are often in direct contradiction of Williams's own descriptions of them. And while their characters may be polar opposites, these actors only seldom suggest the hope of connection that gives the play its pathos.
The New York Times
http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9A00EEDF163BF935A3575AC0A960958260
Showbiz Radio
Summer and Smoke: Another Solid Show from Port City
By: Laura and Mike Clark
June 10, 2006
The cast worked really well together. They all fit into their roles really well. The casting was really well done. The show is about two hours long with a fifteen minute intermission. Usually when you have plays that are just talking and very character driven, they can be really boring and drawn out. This show moved along at at a really nice pace. It wasn’t boring.
One of the disadvantages of the crowded set was the lighting was sometimes too focused. It made it easy for the actors to walk out of the lights. All of a sudden they would be in a deep dark shadow. That was a little distracting. I don’t know how you would fix that other than making the stage a lot brighter, but you really didn’t need that. It had the feel of 1916’s. Another thing, at one point there was a sound effect of a gun being fired. That just wasn’t effective. It sounded like a small little pop on the door, like someone was knocking on the door. It would have been more effective for that scene, that’s on of the turning points in the play, if they could have had a cap gun go off off stage and fired that.
ShowBizRadio
Theater Info for the Washington DC region
http://www.showbizradio.net/2006/06/10/review-pcp-summer-and-smoke/
Summer and Smoke
By Alastair Macaulay
Published: October 20 2006
Now that the subjugation of women has again resumed front-page status, Tennessee Williams's rare play Summer and Smoke has more social relevance than one at first assumes. But during its first half this play seems to be a minor version of something better. A well-brought-up young lady falls headlong in love with a good-looking but none too well-behaved young man. We might almost be watching Showboat or Carousel. As he grows more depraved, more doomed, and her conflict of repression and desire is ever more evident, the play seems to be a lesser version of some other play by Tennessee Williams himself.
But this is a play on a slow burn, and its final scenes are superb. It demonstrates many of the virtues that make Williams one of the supreme playwrights of the 20th century. He is the finest master of the dramatic metaphor since Ibsen (the meanings of both "summer" and "smoke" here open poetically). And he has a piercing sympathy for the emotionally fragile. The story he tells of the repressed Alma ends up quite unlike that of his other heroines. The young doctor John learns from her about soul (smoke); she learns from him about the flesh (summer). He gives her sleeping pills; she remarks to another man: "The prescription number is 96814. I think of it as the telephone number of God."
Rosamund Pike reveals in Alma a deeply affecting blend of pathos, nobility and eloquence. Beautiful and fragile in looks, she plays the role with riveting focus. She is perfectly contrasted with the American actor Chris Carmack, with his fallen- angel charm and his mixture of sensual abandon and painful embarrassment. There is more than one kind of heartbreak in this play: "All rooms are lonely where there is only one person."
Summer and Smoke Press Reviews
http://www.seesummerandsmoke.com/
A Curtain Up New Jersey Review
Summer and Smoke
Review by Simon Saltzman based on performance January 14, 2007
An early work of Tennessee Williams, Summer and Smoke is filled with the rich and rueful lyricism that permeated The Glass Menagerie. That it also has a simmering erotic edge that ignited more viscerally in A Streetcar Named Desire, secures its place as a provocative and significant play in the Williams canon. This glorious co-production comes to the Paper Mill Playhouse from the Hartford Stage, where it was, and still is, directed with a gratifying balance of toughness and tenderness by Michael Wilson. Except for Kevin Anderson replacing Marc Kudisch in the role of John Buchanan Jr., the cast, including the marvelous and mesmerizing Amanda Plummer, remains in tact. That all the plays compassionate textures are also in tact is also good news.
There isn't a minor role that isn't given a memorable twist, including Alma's stifling friends and the bevy of Glorious Hill, Mississippi townspeople, dressed for all seasons by the talented David C. Woolard, who contribute to the social flavor and temperament of the times. Despite a rather large cast, our attention is drawn to the soul of the play, Alma's spiraling fall from grace. It remains as heartbreaking as that of any of Williams' heroines. This stunning revival can stand tall among anything currently on or off Broadway.
Curtain Up
http://www.curtainup.com/summerandsmokenj.html
New York Herald Tribune
Summer and Smoke
By: Howard Barnes
(October 7, 1948).
"the production at the Music Box finds Tennessee Williams as fumbling and obvious as he is trenchant and evocative in 'A Streetcar Named Desire.'"
Google Answers
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/100619.html
Taken from:
"At the Theatre," by Brooks Atkinson. The New York Times (October 7,1948).
The New York Times
The Hope of Connection in William's World
By BEN BRANTLEY
Published: September 6, 1996, Friday
But under the direction of David Warren, ''Summer and Smoke'' does indeed unfold as an awkward clash of elements that goes way beyond its central paradox. A musical sense of tempo is crucial to playing anything by Williams; here, nearly everyone seems to be following a different orchestral baton.
Consider, for example, the actual music meant to set the mood for the production. John Gromada's lovely piano-based score is plaintive, understated and elegiac, conforming to the traditional reading of the play as a sort of tone poem. The acting, on the other hand, is most often either manic and overwrought or flat and mechanical. Humorous passages stand out like one-liners, and lines that should probably be murmured are screamed.
Add to this the fact that the star performances -- by Mary McDonnell as Alma Winemiller, a repressed, genteel spinster, and Harry Hamlin as John Buchanan Jr., the hedonistic doctor she loves -- are often in direct contradiction of Williams's own descriptions of them. And while their characters may be polar opposites, these actors only seldom suggest the hope of connection that gives the play its pathos.
The New York Times
http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9A00EEDF163BF935A3575AC0A960958260
Showbiz Radio
Summer and Smoke: Another Solid Show from Port City
By: Laura and Mike Clark
June 10, 2006
The cast worked really well together. They all fit into their roles really well. The casting was really well done. The show is about two hours long with a fifteen minute intermission. Usually when you have plays that are just talking and very character driven, they can be really boring and drawn out. This show moved along at at a really nice pace. It wasn’t boring.
One of the disadvantages of the crowded set was the lighting was sometimes too focused. It made it easy for the actors to walk out of the lights. All of a sudden they would be in a deep dark shadow. That was a little distracting. I don’t know how you would fix that other than making the stage a lot brighter, but you really didn’t need that. It had the feel of 1916’s. Another thing, at one point there was a sound effect of a gun being fired. That just wasn’t effective. It sounded like a small little pop on the door, like someone was knocking on the door. It would have been more effective for that scene, that’s on of the turning points in the play, if they could have had a cap gun go off off stage and fired that.
ShowBizRadio
Theater Info for the Washington DC region
http://www.showbizradio.net/2006/06/10/review-pcp-summer-and-smoke/
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