Review: 'Talk to Me Like the Rain...' by CRT

STORRS, CT – Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) is continuing its 2020-21 virtual season with Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen by Tennessee Williams. The one act is directed by Dexter Singleton, a director, actor, activist, playwright, educator, producer, and a visiting professor in the Department of Dramatic Arts at UConn. He is currently the Founding Executive Artistic Director of Collective Consciousness Theatre, a multicultural theatre for social change in New Haven, CT.

Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen actually premiered in Westport, Connecticut in 1958. This twenty minute play involves an unnamed man and woman in 1953 who are entangled in an endless cycle of abject, insurmountable poverty.

Two unnamed characters, Man and Woman, live in a crumbling flat on the Lower East Side. He is a drunk, and she is purposefully wasting away - but between them there is an intimacy of desperation.

Throughout this piece, key Tennessee Williams’ themes are explored through the man's alcoholism and the woman's desperation. The script includes some challenging monologues for both roles, and played for me like a longer work by this playwright.

The technical aspects of this virtual production presented via Zoom are good. The two actors are “shot” using a black and white filter, which nicely puts the audience into the era of the fifties. The use of a split screen format made the two actors, who were actually performing in different states, appear to be in the same space, well, almost. My computer had some trouble keeping the lines and lips in sync, but that may have just been my connection.

The director was blessed with two talented rising actors from UConn. Casey Wortham, a lovely young actress of color, gave an almost haunting performance in the role of the Woman. It was almost difficult to listen to the pain that came through in her performance, yet we couldn’t look away. Colin Kinnick also gave a strong performance in the role of the Man who is also hurting, interacting with his virtual stage partner very well. Both are UConn students honing their craft.
During the talk back that followed the performance, the actors discussed the difficulties of working during the pandemic and performing virtually. The production stage manager Caroline Saltz also appeared to discuss the challenges that she faced during the rehearsal process; rest assured that she succeeded in every way.

The remaining one acts with CRT are: This Property is Condemned which opens March 18th and, And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens which opens April 22. These one act plays are performed by an all student cast with a talk back session for all three titles in this series.

All performances of Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen will be presented online; remaining performances are Saturday, February 20 at 2:00pm and 8:00pm, and Sunday February 21 at 2:00pm. Ticket prices for this piece are a flat $5.00. Ticket holders will receive a link via email 24 hours prior to the performance. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit crt.uconn.edu or call 860-486-2113

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions in a normal year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and on Twitter @nancysjanis417 Check out the NEW CCC Facebook page.