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Im afraid we have a bad connection, says the doctors son to the preachers daughter.
Theyre speaking over the telephone, but the interference theyre battling isnt really technological but spiritual.
For all her delicacy, Alma already senses that blur, though shes not yet awake to it.
The stage is empty save for a black-and-white framed photograph of a stone angel propped on a wooden easel.
R. Lee Kennedys lights remain low, keeping Ireland and Darrow in shadow as they navigate this blank expanse.
In this production the prologue is no twee epigraph but Almas memory.
Cummings knows how little fuss-and-stuff a richly layered piece of writing needs to work on stage.
The play can be purple, so Cummings keeps the space empty and the performances sharp.
He and his ensemble make Williamss sometimes cloying language feel pointed and necessary.
Talking on a phone or wearing a hat dont require elaborate physical illustrations.
For all his impetuous rakishness as an adult, John is full of fear.
The riveting Barbara Walshs Mrs. Winemiller is one of thisSummer and Smokes brilliant surprises.
Her seeming dementia is a kind of defiance.
Twice during the play, the character cries out Fight, fight!
in moments when Almas proper, forbearing surface gets ruffled.
Because Alma is headed toward a crisis.
Ive fed all three, he growls bitterly, Youve fednone.
Darrow is delivering a tough, vulnerable performance.
Notably, Mrs. Winemiller doesnt abuse her daughter in her seeming illness, but only watches unblinking.
Her father frets and criticizes: What am I going to tell people who ask about you?
Tell them Ive changed, says Alma with ominous steadiness, and youre waiting to see in what way.
Marin Ireland is utterly thrilling as the heart of Cummingss production.
Shes both a masterful technician and an actor whose emotional presence feels so alive its almost dangerous.
Oh wide, wide stretches of uninhabitable ground, she says, with no iota of wistfulness.
And that consciousness is heartbreaking.
Summer and Smokeis at Classic Stage Company through May 20.
