Summer and Smoke is a two-part, thirteen-scene 1948 play by Tennessee Williams, originally titled Chart of Anatomy when Williams began work on it in 1945. Trapped between desire and fear in a life of obligation, her world turns upside down in the search for salvation. Theatre includes: Romantics Anonymous; Boudica; The Little Matchstick Girl (Shakespeare’s Globe); Woyzeck (Old Vic); Cosi Fan Tutti (Central City Opera Colorado); Dry Powder; IHO or The Intelligent Homosexuals Guide To Capitalism; Socialism with a Key to The Scriptures (Hampstead Theatre); The Deep Blue Sea (National Theatre); Elegy; The Vote (Donmar Warehouse); Red Velvet (Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company); Macbeth; La Musica; Creditors; The Cherry Orchard (Young Vic); Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage (National Theatre Wales/Out Of Joint); Mametz (National Theatre Wales); IGNIS (The Print Room); Dedication; The Nutcracker (Nuffield Theatre); Master and Margarita (Complicite/Barbican/UK Tour). There is a metronome on each, marking the rhythm of the summer nights, because time always ticks by, especially when, like Alma, you live in the Deep South and your mother has had a breakdown and you have had to grow up far too fast. Alma Winemiller is besotted with the boy next door, Doctor John Buchanan. Patsy won a Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer in 2014, and was nominated for an Emerging Talent Award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards in 2015. Television includes: The Night Manager, The Borgias; Hububb. For the Almeida: The Twilight Zone; The Treatment.Theatre includes: Much Ado About Nothing; Imogen; The Comedy of Errors; Titus Andronicus; The Knight of the Burning Pestle (Shakespeare’s Globe); Richard II; Henry IV Parts I & II; Love’s Sacrifice; The Jew of Malta; Candide; Titus Andronicus (RSC); Our Country’s Good (Out of Joint); There is a War (National Theatre); Bingo; The Grapes of Wrath (Chichester Festival Theatre); Shades (Royal Court). Gulping down air and hiccupping up nervous giggles, Ferran wears her heart on her sleeve, so that everything she feels flickers, very visibly, across her face. In the heat of summer – under the wings of an angel – Alma meets John. You will them together, knowing full well they’re bound to tear each other apart. Utilising the Almeida’s natural back wall, the crescent-shaped stage area has seven pianos around its circumference, which at any one time are played by at least two of the actor-musicians. Ferran and Needham make you care deeply for the pair, whatever their wounds and their flaws. ( Log Out /  Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Photo: Marc Brenner She arrives on a bare stage, panicking, unable to breathe, having an anxiety attack, although she thinks it may just be palpitations. A Hundred Words For Snow, Vault Festival – Review. I found myself just as fearful as ‘Alma’ is at her inabililty to breathe properly. Theatre includes: Boudica (Shakespeare's Globe). As the son of a doctor who has seen death up close, John doesn’t believe there’s anything metaphysical about the human condition or its inherent suffering. Read Next: ‘Wicked’ Director Stephen Daldry Exits Movie Adaptation, London Theater Review: ‘A Very Expensive Poison’, West End Review: ‘The Night of the Iguana’ With Clive Owen, 'The Masked Singer' Reveals the Identity of the Lips: Here's the Star Under the Mask, Leanza Cornett, TV Host and Miss America Winner, Dies at 49 After Head Injury, ‘Borat 2’ Babysitter Doesn’t Feel Betrayed by Sacha Baron Cohen, but Wishes She Were Paid More, ‘Supernatural’s’ Misha Collins on Castiel’s Deal With the Empty and ‘Poignant’ Final Words in the Series, Film Producer David Guillod Arrested in New Sexual Assault Case, Michael Bay’s Covid-Inspired ‘Songbird’ Trailer Shows the World Ravaged by Pandemic, How ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Revolutionized Pop Culture — and Why It’s Not Done Yet, ‘Borat 2’: How Sacha Baron Cohen’s Unsuspecting Targets Feel About Being in the Movie, ‘Big Brother’ Recap: Find Out Who Won the Second ‘All-Stars’ Season, ‘The Rookie’ Continues Production as Five Crew Members Test Positive for COVID-19. That’s the Williams way, the formula he tweaks in play after play: Stanley and Blanche; Maggie and Brick; Laura and the Gentleman Caller who shatters her heart. ATG Customer Service0844 871 762725 and under25 tickets at £25 available at every performance for those aged 25 and under.Click here to book tickets (applicable seats indicated in white on seating plan). That’s the awful tragedy — two people bound together by a love that can’t come to bear, destined to ruin one another on repeat. 894646. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF. Location. The pair couldn’t be more perfectly cast. You’re never quite sure what he’s up to or whether he’s sincere. Theatre includes: Big Fish (The Other Palace); Boudica (Shakespeare's Globe); Terror (Lyric Hammersmith); Travesties (Apollo Theatre/Menier Chocolate Factory); A Midsummer Night's Dream (Theatre Royal Bath); Doctor Faustus (Duke of Yorks); Mr Foote's Other Leg (Hampstead Theatre/Theatre Royal Haymarket); The Ruling Class; Richard III; Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios); The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (Kensington Gardens); Crackers (Belgrade Theatre); As You Like It; Romeo and Juliet (RSC/New York); Ahasuerus (RSC/Hampstead Theatre); The Taming of the Shrew; Morte D'Arthur; A Tender Thing; The Grain Store; Henry IV Part II; Henry V; Henry VI Parts I, II & III; Macbeth; Richard II; Richard III; A Comedy of Errors; Twelfth Night; Hamlet (RSC); King Lear (Liverpool Playhouse/Young Vic); The Breathing House; Art (Edinburgh Lyceum); The Trick is to Keep Breathing (Tron/Royal Court). Radio includes: The Scarlet Pimpernel; Faith Without God. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. "Patsy Ferran is a genuine marvel" as Alma (Independent) and Matthew Needham  ’fires up the stage’ (Times) as John in this ‘unmissable Tennessee Williams revival’ (The Telegraph). The cast of Summer and Smoke and director Rebecca Frecknall explore Tennessee Williams' intoxicating classic about love, loneliness and self-destruction. Hear from the cast, read backstage diaries and interviews, and find out more about Tennessee Williams here. Emphasizing the eternity invoked in Williams’ script with metronomes ticking and hymns floating overhead, Frecknall elevates their relationship to a metaphysical affair. Eric also makes his own work, which includes the hybrid art installation/performance - A Voyage Around My Bedroom. Alma is the daughter of Reverend Winemiller (Forbes Masson) and as one would expect in the Bible Belt at the turn of the century, she is mindful of her behaviour and who she keeps as company. His music has been broadcast around the world and heard on international commercials for the likes of Sony, Toyota & Vodafone, amongst many others. Homepage. The running time is approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes including a 15 minute interval. Continue Shopping Item details Date. Distilled, “Summer and Smoke” becomes a shot of Tennessee, neat. Click here for more information and to book online. Her supporting cast play several parts each, more as archetypes than individuals — mothers and fathers, lovers and gossips — and as the small-town community starts to recede, the play’s full focus falls on its central pair: a brittle Southern belle and a beast of a bloke. Following a critically acclaimed, sold-out run at the Almeida, Rebecca Frecknall’s "shiveringly beautiful production" (The Sunday Times) of Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke transfers to the West End’s Duke of York’s Theatre for a strictly limited season. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Featuring an ensemble cast, Rebecca Frecknall directs Summer and Smoke, Tennessee Williams ’ intoxicating classic about love, loneliness and self-destruction. Trapped between desire and a life of obligation, Alma meets John and her world turns upside down. Film includes: The Children Act; Cinderella. From its first arresting image — Ferran, spotlit, gasping for breath — “Summer and Smoke” never lets up. In terms of staging, director Rebecca Frecknall eschews naturalism for symbolism. Summer and Smoke runs at Almeida Theatre until 7th April. Film includes: Darkest Hour; Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; Tale of Tales; Anna Karenina. Alongside a number of acclaimed solo releases, Angus has collaborated with a diverse range of filmmakers, choreographers, theatre directors, animators and photographers from across Europe and beyond, writing original music for award winning work across the arts. It’s a case of opposites attract, but as Alma and John walk in different circles and have different priorities, the odds are against them becoming a couple. Theatre includes: Oslo; The Beaux Stratagem; Market Boy; Caroline or Change; Therese Raquin; The Alchemist; The Rose Tattoo; Playing With Fire (National Theatre); The History Boys (National Theatre/West End); The Hypocrite; Hecuba; Oppenheimer (RSC); Everyone’s Talking About Jamie (Apollo/Crucible Theatre, Sheffield); Motown the Musical; Memphis the Musical; Hairspray (Shaftesbury Theatre); Neville’s Island (Duke of York’s/Chichester Festival Theatre); South Downs/Browning Version (Harold Pinter Theatre/Chichester Festival Theatre); Country Girl (Apollo); Butley (Duchess); Love Never Dies (Adelphi); Cabaret (Lyric); And Then There Were None (Gielgud); The Brothers Size; Vernon God Little; The Glass Menagerie; The Government Inspector; Euridyce (Young Vic); The Wizard of Oz (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield); Knives in Hens (Donmar Warehouse); Witness for the Prosecution (County Hall, London); Combustion (Tara Arts); Occupational Hazards (Hampstead Theatre); Future Conditional; The Crucible (Old Vic); Each His Own Wilderness (Orange Tree Theatre); The Believers (Frantic Assembly); Grounded (Gate Theatre); The Nether; Routes; Truth & Reconciliation; Love Love Love; The Witness; The Victorian in the Wall (Royal Court); Jesus Jumped the A Train; Lovely and Misfit (Trafalgar Studios); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf; Oh the Humanity (Northern Stage); One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show (Eclipse Theatre/Crucible Theatre, Sheffield); Disgraced; Terre Haute; Artefacts; The Whiskey Taster (Bush Theatre); Damsel In Distress; She Loves Me (Chichester Festival Theatre); High School Musical 1&2 (Hammersmith Apollo/UK Tour); I Capture the Castle; Time of my Life (Watford Palace Theatre). Television includes: Patrick Melrose; Black Earth Rising; Genius; Doctors; Nixon’s the One; Upstairs, Downstairs; Law & Order UK; Cambridge Spies; Strike Force. ... © Almeida Theatre, London N1 1TA Registered Charity No. He’s caring one second, a devoted doctor, then vicious the next, and Ferran’s Alma, “always mystified and amazed by unprovoked malice,” is too trusting not to get hurt time and again. Previews Sat 10 Nov - Mon 19 NovPress Night Tue 20 NovMon - Sat evenings 7.30pmSat matinees 2.30pm from Sat 17 NovWed matinees 2.30pm from Thur 22 Nov, Audio Described by VocalEyesTue 11 Dec 7.30pm, Group bookings Group booking enquiry form groups@theambassadors.com020 7206 1174*Access bookings0800 912 6971.