Directing Summer and Smoke: An Existentialist Approach

Abstract

DIRECTING SUMMER AND SMOKE: AN EXISTENTIALIST APPROACH THE MODERN AMERICAN PLAY, unlike its Continental cousins and the classics, is usually a direct slice of life with a central plot line, uncomplicated characters, and a purpose to tell a story or entertain. HOW7 ever, a play occasionally appears on the scene which defies the pattern. Such a play is Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke. This nonconformity may at the same time challenge and confound the director who is saddled with the task of getting to the marrow of the playwright's meaning. He must discover the "spine" of the play, that central action which clarifies and embraces all elements of the drama, making of the myriad pieces a compact whole. The problem is summed· up by Harold Clurman: "It is the function of the director of a playas subtly difficult as 'Summer and Smoke' to articulate a coherent interpretation which the audience can actually see."l Upon initial reading of the play, one finds it talky and too full of obvious symbolism, but on the whole it is a moving story of an idealistic girl who loves a sensual boy. The framework of the play is neatly balanced with characters representing either Alma's way of life or John's. Even the scenic elements are carefully apportioned; the rectory stage right, the doctor's office stage left, with the expanse of sky and the angel named Eternity forming a link between them. In the course of the action the characters change places; Alma surrenders her moral principles and picks up a travelling salesman while John paradoxically gains respectability. The director is moved by the play and sees clearly his approach. But, as we know, between the conception and the production the shadow often falls. For the director creation begins when he and the actors lift the play from the'printed page and put it "on its feet." He must concern himself with flesh and blood characters who feel deeply, react believably and move through space. Almost at once the easy balance of Summer and Smoke crumbles away, and the initial clarity becomes shot through with complexities. Questions arise: If Alma is the detached sYl11bol of "spirit," why does John's touch physically excite her? Why does she tell Dr. John, "I'm not a cold person"?2 If John is the champion of "body hunger," why is he so miserable wallowing in sensuality? Why is he attracted to Alma, gently assuring her, ''You have a lot of feeling 1. Harold Clurman, (review), New Republic (October 25, 1948), p. 26. 2. All quotes from the play appearing in this study are taken from the acting edition of Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke (New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1948). 377 318 MODERN DRAMA February in your heart, and that's a rare thing these days"? If the play is so perfectly balanced, why does Alma emerge as an infinitely more interesting character than John? Why does Alma make a complete about face, from white to black, while John merely moves from black to gray? Why is Alma not greatly upset when John refuses her offer of herself? If Alma has really changed into a streetwalker, why is there little hint of it in her lines to the travelling salesman? Why is the salesman pictured as a self-conscious and uncertain young man if this is Alma's first step on the primrose path? Seeking an answer one turns to two sources; the playwright and the critics. When asked what his play was about, Mr. Williams replied, "1 have never been able to say what was the theme of my plays and 1 don't think I have ever been conscious of writing with a theme in mind.... Usually when asked about a theme, 1 look vague and say, 'It is a play about life:"3 The critics each saw something different in the play. The following may suffice to show their reactions: ... the twin themes of his tone poem are clearly stated: spirit and flesh, order and anarchy.4 The prim maiden succeeds in saving him [John] and losing herself .5 Miss Alma does not go off the deep end until the heartlessness...