Scarmourch Theatre is putting on Menage of 3 by Tennessee at upstairs at The Rhino. The show officially opens on Friday, but Wednesday night I checked out a preview.

So, perhaps it is time I make a little confession... I have very little experience with Tennessee Williams. In fact, it's possible that the sum total of my experience before tonight was the production of The Glass Menagerie that the local community theatre put on when I was in high school.

I have to say, Tennessee Williams is worth revisiting as an adult. And these aren't the Williams shows that everyone (except me) has already seen. In the program the director, Maya Toman, says, "...we discovered a treasure trove of little-known one-act plays to chose from in order to create a full evening's program".

Lisa was my show-partner for this one, she's the one you may remember as the science-geek with a penchant to artiness. Lisa found the show very entertaining. She said that for her, the star of the show was Tennessee Williams' writing. She did point out that this may be because she is already very taken with his writing, but I could see her point. These shows were a nice display of his very impressive use of dialogue, well delivered by the group of actors.

I also enjoyed the three shows, and I liked some of the details: I liked that we were greeted by a cheerful, charming, Italian waiter who was quick with a joke. I liked the way the space was used, with the first show being shown at one end of the room, and the last two at the other; I liked the way that the technical aspects were being run by the actors themselves. It can make for some rocky technical issues at times, but it was also is a great bare-bones way to run a show.

When the show was over, Lisa looked at her watch and she couldn't believe that it was already 9:45, time had passed so quickly for her that she was seeking confirmation of the time. The bottom line is that for $15, pretty damn near the cost of going to a movie these days, you can't go wrong.

One last thing: Since the show is upstairs at The Rhino, one very clever audience member arrived with a pint of beer from downstairs in tow, it seemed like such a good idea, I thought I should pass it on...

Enjoy!

Details:
- Menage of 3 by Tennessee runs June 22, 23, 27, 28, 29 and 30 (Preview on Thursday, June 21 with $12 admission)
- Playing upstairs at the Rhino, 1249 Queen Street West
- All shows begin at 8pm
- Tickets are $15
- More information by calling Scaramouche Theatre box office at 647-839-2126

Photo of Torquil Colbo and Merle Matheson - both in all three shows.