Tennessee Williams' one-acts brought to life by professor

Tennessee Williams has written some of modern drama's most beloved plays, but we almost never hear about his later and lesser known works. It's also not everyday that we have English department faculty directing theater productions at this college. For both these reasons, this weekend in Little Theater will be a special one.

Assistant Professor of English Linda Dorff, Oberlin's resident Tennessee Williams scholar, has moved from the classroom to the theater for her directorial debut with Tennessee Williams' Dragon Country: Four One Act Plays.

Direction aside, the entire cast and technical crew is made up of students. This, as it turns out, has been one of the most rewarding parts of the experience for Dorff. "It's very exciting because they've [the students] have taught me a lot about the plays." For her, the humanity of group experience is what helps her take on the inherent "terror in the face of creation." The interchanging cast of seven includes college first year Sheila Donovan (fresh from a promising debut in last semester's Top Girls) as well as conservatory junior Annie Lee Moffett (of last semester's phenomenal for colored girls...) among others.

Dorff fell in love with Williams' work as a student in New York City in the late 70s when she came upon a volume of his one-act plays entitled Dragon Country which was published in 1970. She found his later work to be especially moving, and thus two of the plays in this production, I Can't Imagine Tomorrow and A Perfect Analysis Given by a Parrot, come from this volume. However the other two works, This Property is Condemned and Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen are both early plays. There are certainly differences between these two sets, but part of what Dorff is trying to do is bridge that gap. "There are definitely similar threads that run through all the plays, such as the meditation on death and the concern with beauty."

Dorff just completed her dissertation on the late works of Williams, earning her Ph.D last spring. She has been an instructor here at Oberlin for three years now. Although this is her first directing experience, she has had an extensive history in theater, serving as dramaturg on many productions. She is also producing and directing a film about Williams' later plays, also entitled Dragon Country, for public television. This project is intended to educate a more general audience on these works, whereas her previous efforts have been geared towards academic circles.

Between keeping a full time teaching position and flying back and forth between here and New York City to work on other projects, it's a wonder Dorff found the time and energy to put this production on at all. This made the the experience particularly challenging. But she felt compelled to direct the plays as opposed to just studying them because she had a particularly ideas about how they could be staged. "I've never seen anyone do Williams' plays the way I envision them," said Dorff.

That vision has rooted itself in what is an expressionist production of these plays as opposed to a realist one. In any case, the rare treat of having a Williams' expert direct Williams will be the main draw.

Tennessee Williams' "Dragon Country: Four One-Act Plays" shows tonight at 8 p.m.and Saturday at 2 p.m. in Little Theater. Tickets are $2, $3 and $4.

Tears of a Clown: A late Williams play is staged as a clown comedy here but shares the bill with three tragedies. (photo by Matt Green)