The Black Box Theatre in downtown Moline, IL, presents Tennessee Williams’s gothic drama “Suddenly Last Summer.” Tickets are available at theblackboxtheatre.com or at the door for $16. The show runs October 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, and 28 at 7:30 p.m., with a matinee on Sunday, October 22, 2023, at 2:00 pm. This production is rated PG-13 for content.
The play is considered one of the greatest American plays of the modernist period. Set in the late 1930s, it tells the story of “Sebastian Venable, a wealthy and secretive poet, who died under mysterious circumstances, while vacationing in Europe with his cousin, Catharine Holly. Catharine claims that Sebastian was killed by a mob of young men, whom he had been using as sexual prey, and that they ate his flesh in a cannibalistic frenzy. Sebastian’s mother, Violet Venable, refuses to believe this version of events and tries to silence Catharine by having her lobotomized. Violet invites a young psychiatrist, Dr. Cukrowicz, to her mansion and offers to fund his research, if he agrees to perform the operation on Catharine. Dr. Cukrowicz, however, is more interested in hearing Catharine’s story and decides to give her a truth serum to make her talk. As Catharine recounts the horrifying details of Sebastian’s death, Violet becomes increasingly agitated and tries to stop her.”
The Black Box cast includes Patti Flaherty as Violet Venable; Matt Walsh as Dr. John Cukrowicz; and Noel Jean Huntley as Catherine Holly. The cast also includes Ann Keeney-Grafft, Lisa Kahn, James Becker, and Jacqueline E. Cohoon.
The direction and design are by Black Box Co-founder and Artistic Director, Lora Adams. Set Construction is by Michael Kopriva, and Light Design is by Roger Pavey, Jr.