Tennessee Williams double bill at Pentameters Theatre

Tennessee Williams Double Bill - Interior: Panic & Portrait of a Madonna, at the Pentameters Theatre, a fringe venue in Hampstead, north London, from 12 to 31 March 2013.

Cast includes Jaymie Addicott (Blanche), Clare Harlow (Grace / The Nurse), Harry Anton (Jack / The Doctor), Liam Nooney (George/ Elevator Boy), Dermot Dolan (Bill Collector / Porter), Victoria Kempton (Miss Lucretia Collins).

INTERIOR: PANIC, directed by Sebastien Blanc: Blanche Shannon is no one else but Blanche DuBois. The situation is familiar; the cramped quarters in New Orleans, with her sister and her husband, and Blanche's desperation and need for rescue by her own ‘gentleman caller’ are all there.

PORTRAIT OF A MADONNA, by Seamus Newham: The central character, Miss Lucretia Collins is a sexually frustrated, neurotic, middle-aged spinster. Lucretia is living in a small dingy apartment and every night, she believes that Richard (the man she once loved) breaks into her room to ‘indulge his senses’. Miss Collins has called down to the manager to report that she has an intruder. The porter and the elevator boy come up to ‘investigate’. The elevator boy, a cocky young guy who thinks Miss Collins is a creature of fun and the porter, an infinitely compassionate man, who sees the deep pain behind Miss Collins' fantasy.

- by Darren Dalglish