'Sweet Bird' brings melodious sounds to stage

Monday, August 18, 1997

THEATER:

Tennessee Williams' play sets nature as background

to themes of youth, fame, loveBy Nerissa Pacio

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The sounds of birds chirping, wind blowing and trees rustling was loud and clear on stage. At first guess, it sounds as if an incredible sound system is meant to bring out the realism of authentic nature sounds, all in an effort to enhance the play. That is, until it becomes apparent that the scene is supposed to be a seedy motel room.

At the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum outdoor theater, where Tennessee Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth" runs through Sept. 13, the melodious sounds of nature become part of each and every scene, even if it is the inside of a motel room. But at least the faint chirping and twittering behind the actors' voices seem fitting for this appropriately titled play.

After getting past the hard wooden amphitheater-esque seats and the constant worry that a bare-chested Chance Wayne (Richard Tyson) and a gauzy-gowned Alexandra Del Lago (Ellen Geer) might just catch a cold in the brusque summer evening, an experience at the Will Geer Theater becomes as refreshing as a whiff of starry night air. Tyson and Geer's performances as the often inebriated and bleary-eyed substance abusers who wallow in their own self-pity make it especially easy to sit back, relax and be glad that you aren't a party to their desperate ways.

Twittering between the classic themes of age versus youth, love versus hate and good versus evil, "Sweet Bird of Youth" is a tale of a young, attractive playboy searching for his true place and true love in life.

After wasting his prime years, Chance returns to his home town to seek out his soulmate, Heavenly (Susan Angelo), the daughter of the bigoted politician Boss Finley (Thad Geer). A desperate Chance grabs at anything to secure a successful return home to prove his worth, including an unsophisticated plan to blackmail Alexandra Del Lago, a vigorous yet aging movie star. Chance plans to stop at nothing to secure a movie contract and a metaphorical star on his dressing room door. However, Boss Finley's clan presents the antagonistic forces that eventually bring Chance down.

The appropriately cast Tyson and Ellen Geer play the fallen protagonists in a fittingly dramatic way. Full of anguished, angst-ridden expressions to create a longing and driven Chance Wayne, Tyson bellows his confident lines and ending cries to a believing audience. Tyson is polished, blond and buffed for the part of a lost loverboy seeking the fame, fortune and love he never had.

Ellen Geer also delivers a commendable Alexandra, the wrinkled, pretentious movie queen. With a gruff Hollywood voice and a swagger in her tenured walk, Geer reveals a long-time jaded woman of the biz who cohorts with Chance to get a piece of his youth in order to recapture her own.

Thad Geer's portrayal of Boss Finley, the overly bitter, self-serving father, is the most seemingly sinister character of the play. Though evil, Finley's lines become the most laughable, invoking images of old Rozco Pico Train of "Dukes of Hazzard" or some similarly ridiculous egotistical southern-power monger. While Boss Finley remains a flat character with a singular bitter goal in mind, Thad Geer manages to still make the non-dimensional entertaining.

At times the play is a bit overdone like the effort of skinny Tom Jr. (Kristofer Soul) and friends to beat up a much larger Chance Wayne but most actors show obvious talent or at least the promise of another job after "Sweet Bird" flies the coop.

Most is not the same as all though, as Susan Angelo as Heavenly surely proves. With a meek voice and fake cry, Angelo is a casting mismatch as the beautiful young heroine and object of a handsome Chance's desires.

Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth" is not a play of tooth-achy sweetness, or smiling times and tidy endings. But with an entertaining cast ensconced in a lovable rustic theater, it won't fly too far away.

THEATER: "Sweet Bird of Youth" runs through Sept. 13 at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum every Sat. at 8 p.m. For more information call (310) 455-3723.

Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum

Chance Wayne (Richard Tyson) and Alexandra Del Lago (Ellen Greer) in "Sweet Bird of Youth."