Vieux Carre

Brown/Trinity Rep M.F.A. Program's production of Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carre, an especially somber work from the master of decadence, offers fine performances and keen stage direction despite tiresome dialogue that teeters between maudlin and morose.

The Vieux Carre is a New Orleans flophouse inhabited by an unseemly group of individuals, all of whom suffer from varying degrees of illness, loneliness and desperation. Although written much earlier, the play was staged in 1977, late in Williams' career. Much like The Glass Menagerie, which is recognized as one of the author's great works, the lesser-known Vieux Carre is a memory play and highly autobiographical.

The show's narrator, known as The Writer (Vichet Chum) and modeled after Williams himself, enters a stage that resembles an abandoned room in a dilapidated building. Cracked walls, on the verge of collapse, surround the squalid area, littered with debris composed of dust, trash and dead rodents. The Writer, familiar with the environment, works his way around the random furniture items on display, faces the audience and invites us to revisit days gone by.

An integral part of The Writer's past took place in this French Quarter rooming house, owned and operated by the paranoid, high-strung Mrs. Wire (Tiffany Nichole Greene), where the youngster made the acquaintance of a rather colorful cast of characters.

The room next to his is occupied by Nightingale (Chris Berry), a philandering artist who won't let his deteriorating health deter him from vying for affection from his neighbor. Jane (Olivia D'Ambrosio), an articulate, educated girl from New York, shares a room and bed with Tye (Terrell Donnell Sledge), who works nights as a stripper to support his drug addiction.

Elderly roommates Miss Carrie (Jaselyn Blanchard) and Mary Maude (Charlotte Graham) are resident derelicts and appear to be on the verge of death from starvation. And then there's Nursie (Rachel Christopher), keeper of the house and nursemaid to her demented employer, Mrs. Wire.

Each of these creatures has his (or her) own story to tell, or secrets to hide, which provides The Writer with endless ideas and inspiration. But otherwise, there isn't much of a plot or tangible storyline.

The play has a documentary-like feel with each room or member of the house as a profile subject. Conversations are more like interviews and each is loaded with frustration, hostility or insinuation. Williams' prose is fraught with meaning, but in the case of this play, it doesn't always translate well to the stage.

Nevertheless, Kristopher Lencowski does a masterful job directing this superb group of promising actors. Chum is perfect as the insecure yet hopeful aspiring writer, and Greene is a mighty stage presence as his surrogate mother, Mrs. Wire. Berry shines as the misguided, predatory Nightingale and Sledge gives his character, Tye, an unexpected but necessary depth.

D'Ambrosio is splendid as Jane, arguably the most challenging role in the production. Although her delivery is contrived at times, her character's abundance of emotions warrants it. Christopher deserves an honorable mention as Nursie for unwittingly providing the show with much-needed comic relief.

It may not always seem especially welcoming, but Tennesee Williams' Vieux Carre is worthy of a visit.