The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 26, 1980, Page Page 10, Image 10
'Sweet Bi
frighteninc
By Lisa Milos
Gamncoch Staff Writer
inai sweei Dira 01 youm, so
frequently alluding and so defiant
to the cage, proves consistent with
its description for the characters of
Tennessee Williams' play, Sweet
Bird of Youth now playing at the
Workshop Theatre through March
29
But it i^ tiot as if the characters
don't try'tio change the description
of their, f^tihg feathered friend.
The main * Characters, Chance
Wayne and his once-famous film
star and bed partner, The Princess
Cosmonopolis, spend most of the
play's time span trying to catch
and keep the bird. Finally they
realize that it cannot be held
captive. At most it will only be
detained for a short time and if,
when it leaves, it has become the
I C 41 I I- _ 1 A 1! ! L
center ui ine capiur s aueiiuun, 11
will leave him mercilessly with
nothing to continue the remnants
of his existence. The fact that the
characters realize this, however,
does not seem to be quite enough to
encourage them to abandon the
chase.
AS THE FLAY begins the
audience grasps the rotten
shallowness of one Mr. Chance
Wayne, a character who does not
seem to mind that his livelihood is
sleeping "in the social register of
New York." His shady life has
included jail sentences and drugs,
but something leads him back to
his home town to see the only girl
who has ever had the abilitv to
- - - - ^
evoke any degree of true love from
him.
His girl-friend, Heavenly Finley,
has a problem though. Her father,
Boss Finley, a true Southern
gentleman and power-hungry
political boss whose mission in the
Southland is to protect white
Southern womanhood, harbors
m r?ro than a r<aciial Hiclilro f r?r
Chance. The dislike resulted from
an interlude between Chance and
Heavenly, necessitating a
gruesome operation that caused
social disgrace and mental
anguish for the young girl. When
Chance shows up in St. Cloud, the
virtuous Boss Finley (who himself
has been corrupting a white
Southern woman named Miss Lucv
for years) takes time out from his
political life to make sure Chance
Wayne will never be a threat
again.
THE PRINCESS, herself a youth
worshipper, is allowed to regain
her "youth" again and make a
glorious comeback into the motion
picture business. Her search is
allowed to cease; her nightmare is
over. Youth flutters quietly while
she cups her hands around it for
some unknown and limited amount
of time. Perhaps the only reason
the playwright addresses himself
to the idea of youth recaptured is to
emphasize the fact that she will be
lulled to sleep again at some point
in the future. Then the nightmare
win oegin again, and sne won't
wake up.
Performances are fair from
Daryl Hawkins (Chance Wayne)
and Ruth Ann Phimister (The
Princess Cosmonopolis). Hawkins
begins each line with what
becomes, as the play progresses, a
predictable smirk ? not really a
giggle, just a smirk. His quiet;
delivery is irritating to those at the;
oack or me tneatre as wen as out of
character for the self-confident
criminal degenerate he portrays.
Ms. Phimister, on the other hand,
looks like she wishes she had an
extra one with which to fondle
Hawkins even more. Her caresses
are carried almost to the extreme
K,r ? ofher dramatic speeches.
BOB BAILEY does a fine job
with his part as Boss Finley. His
flamboyant, ostentatious
demeanor is reiresmng. ine piay
needs his dominant personality to
relieve the tense and serious
x ramblingsof the other characters'
mixed up liviSVftls treatment of
SkNithermisnris is exaggerated just
enough to , tumorous. His
-
ird of Yout
jly thought
booming voice, as well as his fine
acting is appreciated.
Dressed in like-father, like-son
ice cream suits and white shoes,
Timothy Quinn who plays Tom Jr.
is as effective as his "papa." He
succeeds in portraying a young
man who wants to be a tough guy
but negates his self-constructed
image by being a combination
servant and yes-man to his father,
Boss Finley. His performance is
one of the more enjoyable ones
because he is able to fulfill his
character in a manner that seems
perfectly natural.
BOSS FINLEY'S mistress, Miss
Lucy, is played by Leslie Horton.
Her penormance is aiso very goua.
She typifies the Southern scarlet
harlot who packs a mean tongue
and aims to get whatever she
wants. In the true Gone with the
Wind style, she is excellent.
Heavenly Finley, played by
Beverly Littlejohn, is supposed to
rpnrpcpnf a oirl \i/ith nnnncito
vuvtv v* ?,?* * "lvi4 VJ/J/VUIW
characteristics of Miss Lucy.
While she attempts to be sweet,
naive, and oh-so-easily bruised,
she doesn't convince anyone. Her
whimpering parlance is intoned
rather than spoken. The feeling of
utter hopelessness and unwillingness
to continue she should
feel because of the circumstances
of her early years is missing in her
portrayal.
THE SET IS nice as far as
conventional seis go ? a on
unimaginative and far too
crowded. Walking space is
severely inhibited by platforms
and steps and more platforms and
steps. The effect is more audience
attention focused on character
action rather than character
speech; one of them is sure to fall
off.
The play, taken as a whole, is
good merely because the good
performances are able to overshadow
the mediocre ones. But the
subject content itself is the best
part. The play is a thoughtprovoker
and one that is extremely
I
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h' proves
provoking
(and frighteningly) relevant to the
twentieth century "me"
generation. The escapism, the
always futile chase of transitory
.. * u J
yuuui anu ueauiy, uic imaguiucu ,
importance of things that do not
last and can never "mean
something," the delusions that
shield out the realities for ;
moments are only presented
with genius in Tennessee Williams'
play.
The most that anyone can hope ;
to find in his quest is "something ;
permanent in a world of change," i
something that resists change and
vet doesn't refute the maxim that
"to change is to live, to live is to
change, not to change is to die."
That sweet bird of youth, she flies
too quickly.
LADY (
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use Swimming Po<
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4427 Blossom St.
Off Beltline Blvd.
782-6626
liBinnntlBBMBI
~ S 1 - ^'jf
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Beverly Littlejohn, Ruth Phimister and Darl G. Hawkins star
in 'Sweet Bird of Youth,' performing at Workshop Theatre
through Saturday.
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