"The Night of the Iguana" by Tennessee Williams
Directed by: Eleni Gkasouka
Venue: Royal (Vasiliko) Theatre
Opening: 28 Οctober 2022 Duration: 120 min (including interval) Rating: Suitable for ages 16+
A few words about the play In a far-flung part of Mexico, at the “Costa Verde” Hotel, the property of the widow Maxine Faulk, Shannon, a former priest who is now working as a tour guide, arrives with a group of women from the Quebec Religious College for Girls. Back in the US, Shannon had been accused of seducing underage girls and removed from his duties. A new incident of seduction, this time of a young member of the group, forces him to make a stop at the hotel to regroup: he needs to do everything he can to escape being exposed, pilloried and fired. A victim of his uncontrollable urges once again and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, he meets Hannah at the hotel, a painter who makes a living selling poems and paintings and is travelling with her grandfather, a well-known poet. As Maxine tries to persuade him to stay with her and take over her business, pushing him towards the pleasures of the flesh, Hannah, through her calm and mental serenity, helps him to face himself and overcome his personal deadlock. “The Night of the Iguana”, one of Tennessee Williams’ three finest plays, returns to the NTNG stage in an excellent translation by Dimitris Dimitriadis, almost thirty years after Andreas Voutsinas directed its Thessaloniki première. The play, which was written in 1961, employs some of the playwright’s favourite motifs: despairing, fragile characters teetering on a knife edge between guilt and pleasure. Immersed in their loneliness, they seek comfort and understanding as they attempt to connect with others. Characters who are tested in an endless and ongoing struggle for acceptance and to reconcile themselves with their dark sides and their demons.
Director's Note The idea of staging “The Night of the Iguana” came to me after a time spent writing my own plays in which I experimented with writing that was undistracted by the issues of the age. At some point, on one of those enjoyable evenings after a performance when, tongues loosened by a little wine, we open our hearts, gossiping sometimes and taking the mickey out of ourselves and each other, we found ourselves discussing Tennessee Williams. Among other things, we accused him of always writing neurotic characters, washed-up failures... and noted that, if we met them today, they would probably have solved their problems with the new “smart” antidepressants that didn’t exist when he was writing. A lot has happened since that evening. Most of the friends who were present for our mini-symposium are now on antidepressants, in search of balance. (That includes me, obviously) And I set out to bring the timeless character of Tennessee Williams into view, not with thoughts or words but meaningfully through the tried and tested tool of rehearsal. I’ll leave it to you to assess the results of our “research”, and not colour your view in advance with my own take on things. Anyway, my job is staging plays, not writing essays about them. So I’ll say this, and not one word more: The Night isn’t the Iguana’s alone!
Eleni Gkasouka
Credits
Translated by: Dimitris Dimitriadis, Directed by: Eleni Gkasouka, Sets & Costumes: Konstantinos Zamanis, Music-Sound design: Thodoris Oikonomou, Lighting: Zoi Molyvda Fameli, First Assistant to the director: Angelos Kalfas, Second Assistant to the director: Christos Ntaraktsis, Assistant to the Set-Costumes designer: Danai Pana, Production coordinator: Marleen Verschuuren Cast: Kleio Danai Othonaiou (Maxine Faulk), Giorgos Kolovos (Reverend Shannon), Anni Tsolakidou (Hannah Jelkes), Kostas Santas (Jonathan Coffin), Giolanta Balaoura (Judith Fellowes), Iovi Fragkatou (Charlotte Goodall), Christos Ntaraktsis (Jake Latta, a traveller), Manolis Fountoulis (Hank, a traveller), Lefteris Dimiropoulos (Pedro), Nikos Tsoleridis (Pancho)