Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Epic Theatre Company’s first show of 2020 is Tennessee William’s “Suddenly Last Summer.” This one act show is set in 1936 in the New Orleans garden of the home of wealthy Violet Venable. It begins after the death of a young man away on a holiday. She speaks nostalgically about her late son, Sebastian to her guest, a doctor. Her son was a poet who died under mysterious circumstances in Spain the previous summer. His mother has put his memory up on a pedestal. The only witness to Sebastian’s demise was her niece, Catherine who has been under psychiatric care at St. Mary’s asylum since then. Violet wants her son’s reputation preserved from her niece’s revelation of his violent and lurid death that might reveal a family secret. The wealthy woman wants to protect her son at any cost and the change it might bring about might not be the one she wants or expects. When everything is revealed the consequences for past actions rear their ugly head and once again the downtrodden are marginalized by the haughtiness of wealth and position. Director Geoff Leatham casts these seven roles splendidly. He gives them the insight into each of William’s finely drawn characters and obtains the depth each role calls for. A gut wrenching finale of the show leaves every performer and audience member in tears.