At Intime, two Tennessee Williams plays for the price of one

From its quaint, well-constructed set to its outstanding cast, “Garden District” is the latest success of Theatre Intime’s 2010-11 season. The double bill showcases two of Tennessee Williams’ most intense plays, exploring themes of desire, love and suppression.

The first piece, “Something Unspoken,” is a short but powerful conversation between the diffident secretary Grace Lancaster (Sarah Paton ’13), and her strong-willed employer, Cornelia Scott (Taylor Mallory ’13). Paton brilliantly captures her character’s timid nature, while Mallory, as the bold and forthright boss, effortlessly follows up her snippy performance in “Red Herring” in October.

Their conversation starts off on a relatively mundane note, but the audience soon discovers that the seemingly trivial problems the characters discuss really allude to much deeper ones. The play’s emotional intensity increases as Cornelia tries to confront Grace about the nature of their relationship, leading to a powerful closing monologue. The plot may be slightly slow-moving and vague in parts, and the humor too Southern for everyone to appreciate, but the pair’s on-stage chemistry more than makes up for these problems.

The second piece, “Suddenly, Last Summer,” tells the story of Catharine Holly (Savannah Hankinson ’13), who seems to have gone crazy after the mysterious death of her cousin, Sebastian, the previous summer. Sebastian’s mother, Mrs. Venable (Carolyn Vasko ’13) is threatening to lobotomize Catharine to stop her from “babbling” her insane story to everyone.

This short play is also dominated by strong lead actresses: The combination of Vasko’s flawless portrayal of the old woman who lost her son and Hankinson’s passionate monologues effectively convey the play’s sense of abandonment, helplessness and delusion. The actresses have tremendous stage presence and make it look easy to play these extreme emotions, transforming an otherwise slow-moving script into a gripping theatrical experience. Credit should also go to Alex Chase-Levenson GS for his part as the consulting medical expert, Dr. Cukrowicz, though it is easy to lose interest in some of his long-winded conversations at the play’s opening. The characters of Catharine’s family, Mrs. Holly (Arielle Sandor ’12) and George Holly (Aaron Glasserman ’13), provide refreshing humor at well-timed moments.

Don’t expect a concrete storyline: This play is intentionally abstract, as it attempts to inspire the audience to connect with the characters however they want and interpret Catharine’s tale as either insane fabrication or truth.

Contrasting with the production’s complex emotional undercurrents, the set design does not change but is elegantly designed by Christina Campodonico ’13 and Aryeh Stein-Azen ’13. The same goes for the simple, understated lighting courtesy of Sean Drohan ’14, which incorporates only a few spotlight effects throughout the entire performance.

Overall, director Dan Rattner ’13 has managed to make the best of scripts that — with the exception of their passionate and thought-provoking monologues — can be a little too abstract and distant. “Garden District” certainly won’t provide the most lighthearted night of fun, but if you are looking for a sobering, emotional and well-acted production, look no further.