The St. Louis Rooming House Plays has four more performance left, and as I write this, there are a few tickets left before it disappears into the air. At 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., an old house in Grand Center holds a remarkable group of performances, part of the Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis
It’s a collection of short plays – some very short, indeed – that are staged in different rooms in the house. The audience is broken up into groups and moved from room to room, becoming voyeurs to Tennessee Williams works that hardly any of us have seen. The close views of actors moving – excuse me, I need to pick up my jacket – is fascinating, and we are mostly invisible to them.
Peter Mayer, in a hat whose last owner may have been Jimmy Durante, trudges up the stairs as a traveling salesman, glowering and glowing. Julie Layton struts and stalks, an actress who’s seeking escape from a life on the road. Eric Dean White and Julia Crump have at it as a behind-closed-doors couple with enough energy to charge a mobile phone. Anita Jackson looms as Bertha, a working girl, and does battle with Donna Weinsting , her just-slightly frowsy madam. There’s music in the parlor from Henry Palkes, with Ben Nordstrom and Christian Chambers, who’ve also been working upstairs trying to fend off Layton.
It’s an absolutely amazing experience for this town. Get online at Metrotix, get in gear and go. You won’t regret it. Not wheelchair accessible, and little actual seating, fyi.
The St. Louis Rooming House Plays
closes tomorrow, May 15
Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis
Stockton House
3508 Samuel Shepard Dr.
And more breaking news:
The Midnight Company will extend the run of its production of Tennessee Williams’ THE TWO-CHARACTER PLAY after its one-week run at Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis. It will play Fridays and Saturdays, 8pm, May 27-28 and June 3-4 at the Winter Opera Space St. Louis, 2322 Marconi, 63110, on The Hill. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased at BrownPaperTickets.com, with sales beginning Sunday, May 15. Tickets will also be available at the door, cash or check only.