Commercial producers have been spied in attendance in recent days. The rare revival of Tennessee Williams' 1951 rewrite of Summer and Smoke has been embraced by critics, leaving The Actors Company Theatre/TACT — run by co-artistic directors Scott Alan Evans, Cynthia Harris and Simon Jones — wishing the limited run at the Clurman (in the Theatre Row complex) could go on. Theatre Row has another production booked into the space. The New Yorker called the delicate revival, directed by Jenn Thompson, "superb." The New York Times and Variety also cheered it.
The last time the Mississippi-set play was seen professionally in Manhattan was the short-lived Broadway run in 1976. The TACT production opened May 5 after previews from April 27.
The cast of Eccentricities includes TACT company member Mary Bacon as Alma Winemiller; guest artist Todd Gearhart (The Guthrie's All My Sons) as doctor-next-door John Buchanan; TACT company members Larry Keith as the Rev. Winemiller; Darrie Lawrence as Mrs. Buchanan; Nora Chester as Mrs. Winemiller; Cynthia Darlow; Francesca Di Mauro; Greg McFadden; James Prendergast and Scott Schafer.
The design team includes TACT company members Darryl Bornstein (sound), Jonathan Faiman (original music) and David Toser (costumes), and Lucrecia Briceno (lighting) and Bill Clarke (sets).
Theatre Row's Clurman Theatre is located at 410 West 42nd Street. For more information visit www.tactnyc.org.