“Tea and Sympathy,” the Theatre Department’s latest production, opened in Russell Hall in Gorham last Thursday.
Originally written as a loose autobiography of the playwright Robert Anderson, the play presents the story of Tom, a student in a boy’s school in the 1950s who is suspected of being a homosexual. Over the course of the play, Tom tries to fit in and overcome the rigidly defined gender roles at the school.? It’s a timely topic after Tuesday’s repeal of gay marriage in Maine.
As with most of the Theatre Departmentvs plays, the production was coordinated by the Theatre faculty. Professor William Steele directed, Professor Charles Kading created the set and Assistant Professor Shannon Zura designed the sound and lighting. Kading created a great set on a shoestring budget that felt complete and even elegant despite its simplicity. Zura’s sound and lighting choices were also effective: they were expertly timed, flowed naturally and really brought out the action on the stage.
Many of the scenes follow a similar structure. They start as a conversational argument and slowly snowball into a state of emotional urgency, climaxing with one or both of the characters leaving the scene in a door-slamming huff.? The audience, which consisted mostly of older people from the Gorham community, found this rising tension captivating. People leaned forward in their chairs, watching intensely and erupting in laughter whenever something funny happened on stage. When the play broke for its two intermissions, it seemed everyone was talking about the emotional ferocity of the previous scene.
While the secondary actors are all believable, the standout in the cast is Patrick Malloy who plays Bill Reynolds, the seemingly kind but actually nefarious house master. He looks and sounds like the father from “Leave it to Beaver,” but it is clear that his “aw shucks” veneer hides a scheming and cruel mind. By the play’s end, he comes off almost like Hannibal Lector played by Andy Griffith. His eternal calm makes for some great scenes when it is contrasted against the high-strung passion of his wife Laura (Heather Scamman) and the nervous anxiety of Tom’s father Herbert (Joe McLeod).
Scamman plays the difficult part of Laura impressively. While it might have been possible to play the part as an enlightened heroine, Scamman’s Laura is a cruel bully who twists situations to her own advantage and shows little concern for others. She is routinely condescending to the other characters and thinks of little besides her own personal problems. While it is difficult to sympathize with her rather annoying character, Scamman holds the stage powerfully.
Joe Bearor plays Tom, the play’s central character. As the play progresses, Tom transforms from being reasonably upset to being angst-riddled to finally just becoming a whiney crybaby. I understand that Tom is supposed to have a sensitive and even effeminate nature, but there are times when Bearor simply takes it too far.
This is really a play for the theater people. The group of theater majors I attended the show with certainly found a lot to like about it. For the non-theater minded among us, however, the play may seem a bit too melodramatic as it extols its message with all the subtlety of a punch to the face. But, if blatancy doesn’t bother you too much, don’t miss this delightful bit of entertainment.
“Tea and Sympathy” runs through Nov. 15.