1. Why did you and/or the Guild Theatre Committee choose this play?
One reason I chose it is that it has a relatively large cast. This can be a risk as it is often difficult to hold a large group together for the long rehearsal and performance commitment. Casting has been relatively painless, however, and everyone seems to be very keen about doing this play, which is a great position to be in at the start of rehearsals. I can’t speak for the committee, except that they, too, would see value in the opportunity to get a big group involved in one project. Despite the immense workload we take on, we are after all a social group and some of us are looking forward to the socialising that will arise from getting together to do The Rose Tattoo.
2. What appealed to you most?
All the characters (and there is a fair bit of doubling) are very different – one from the other, meaning there is a broad range of acting opportunities, making the rehearsal and performance of the play very interesting for all concerned, including, I hope, the audience. Tennessee Williams is one of the giants of the modern American theatre, having written a considerable number of plays from the 1940’s to the 1970’s. For this reason it is very exciting and challenging to have the opportunity to attempt one of his plays. Unlike most of his work (his best known play is A Streetcar Named Desire, which the Guild presented almost 50 years ago) The Rose Tattoo is essentially a comedy, though not without a range of dramatic opportunities and the essential theatricality that is part and parcel of Williams’ writing. It concerns a community of Sicilian immigrants in the southern states of the US. Serafina and Alvaro, the main characters are unlikely lovers, not exactly star-crossed, but fiery and passionate.
3. What is your favourite line, scene or character in the play and why?
It would have to be these two characters and the boisterous, clumsy romance that develops between them.
4. Any challenges expected in producing this play?
Lots. There are about 40 lighting cues and 50 music and sound cues. Beyond the technicalities, there is an atmosphere of wildness which pervades everything – it is after all, set in hurricane territory along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans. Fortunately, we aren’t required to simulate a hurricane on stage, but there is a good deal of devastation in the characters and their relationships with each other.
5. Any interesting anecdotal news re the play or The Guild?
Originally presented on Broadway in 1950, making a star of Maureen Sullivan as Serafina, and no doubt performed by many companies since. More recently, it was presented by the British National Theatre in 2007 with Zoe Wanamaker as Serafina. It was filmed in 1955 with Anna Magnani and Burt Lancaster.