Yesterday afternoon (into evening) I accomplished one of my theatrical goals in life (believe it or not I have quite the list), in seeing a production of Sweet Bird of Youth. In reading and seeing almost 20 of Tennessee William's I can safely say this is one of my top Five favorites (probably number 2 or 3). So I was a little nervous that I would be disappointed to see it performed by an smaller venue.
I can happily say, I was not.
Written in 1959, before (or in the beginning) of what Tennessee called his Stoned Age. Which is a time where 10 received most of his harshest criticism. Though he turned out some of his most interesting insightful work like, Period of Adjustment (1960), In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel (1969), The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore (1963) and my namesakes, The Eccentricities of a Nightingale (1964) and The Night of the Iguana (1961).
It's fun to have a passion. I digress though.
What I love so about this play is the tragedy of it all. Not to sound horribly pessimistic (in comparison of the last post). It's a tale of two people who are both past their prime and have no where else to go. One has admitted it to herself, while the other refuses to believe it. I would hate to say that it's possible for someone to no longer be useful to the human race, but sometimes it's true. Of course these two characters were people who based their lives on their youth and beauty, and as it's well known, that's not going to last forever.
What is also so interesting about this production is the way it's so modern. In 1959, a show that involves, alcohol abuse, pill popping, male prostitution, abortions gone wrong, racism and pot smoking. It doesn't seem surprising why this show isn't labeled amongst one of the most well known Tennessee Williams shows.
It would be hard to justify in a high school that your kids weren't reading SMUT with that list of topics. I mean that's because all things dealing with controversial issues is SMUT...right??
At least with The Glass Menagerie, we can say, "No! Tom's not gay!! He is just a wayward soul who wants to travel!" Or in A Streetcar Named Desire, "Blanche was a loose woman, she got what was coming to her."
In Sweet Bird, it's not unbelievable as to why these characters are trying to forget or convince themselves of a past that never happened. Life is difficult at times and people drown those thoughts out. I mean isn't not like nowadays people don't use drugs and liquor to forget their woes...right?
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