European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 25, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Londoners cheer a the Rose Tattoo by Matt Wolf the associated press it is an unexpected finish from Tennessee Williams balloons Fly and a sicilian heroine in full romantic Bloom cries Quot Vengo Vengo Amore Quot a Quot i m coming my love Quot a from the rear of the stage. With that the curtain Falls nightly on the new London revival of the Rose Tattoo As londoners cheer the one unabashedly upbeat finish Williams Ever wrote. Quot it s a real Happy ending Quot said Star Julie Walters the slim English actress educating Rita the upcoming stepping out who has been cast defiantly against Type As Williams plump volatile heroine Serafina Delle Rose. The production directed by sir Peter Hall is at the playhouse theater through aug. 24. The play had its Broadway premiere in 1951, arid tells of the suddenly widowed Serafina who finds sexual and emotional rebirth with a trucker Alvaro Mangiacavall. A sicilian dressmaker living on the Gulf coast of America Serafina is drawn to Mangiacavall s kindness a and to a Rose Tattoo on his Chest that reminds her of her dead play has flashes of cruelty and pain As Well As a Gutsy robust humor. Written during a passionate relationship in Williams own life it s a rare Celebration of sensuality and feeling from an author who More often explored the Darker aspects of love and lust. The revival comes at a difficult time in Walters life. Last september while filming stepping out in Toronto she discovered that her 3-year-old daughter Maisie had leukaemia. She is currently receiving chemotherapy at London s Royal Marsden Hospital. Then during rehearsals for Rose Tattoo Walters became sick herself a her body s reaction to accumulated months of stress. But Walters feels the play has justified her commitment to it. Quot Peter Hall sent me the script two years ago and said i want you to read this and then play it Quot Walters 41, recalled. Quot a girl could t turn that will audiences be surprised Quot yes i think they May be Quot said Walters her voice slightly hoarse from the vocal level the part demands. Quot they Don t expect Tennessee to be funny certainly not to have a Happy ending. Serafina gets her Man her heart is set perhaps Williams High voltage in English Ness is what appeals to the English. Quot it is in English in one sense that s a leap Quot said Walters who has starred in two other american plays on the West end a Sam Shepard s fool for love and Terrence Mcnally s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair do Lune. But Walters continued Quot Serafina is Universal As a person. Even though she a. Italian and somewhat melodramatic she s also childlike and innocent rather primitive. Everybody can identify with those Maureen Stapleton originated the part in new York but it remains associated with Anna Magnani whose 1955 performance on film a in her the Academy award for Best actress. With her Birmingham accent and Strawberry coloured hair Walters could t be further frown the ample dark haired Serafina. That difference though became part of the attraction. Quot i do like doing accents Quot said Walters who Speaks in a guttural mock italian Complete with the Busy hand gestures to match. She has been physically transformed As Well with padding supplied by the people who make the puppets for the scathing spitting image television show. Quot it looks like flesh Quot laughed Walters. Quot a lot of people think i be just put on a lot of the Rose Tattoo continues Britain s rediscovery of Williams. Three years ago Hall opened a rare Anil stunning the author s orpheus descending. The production starring Vanessa Redgrave eventually moved to Broadway. The Royal National theater had a 1988 hit with cat on a hot tin roof and is planning to revive the night of the iguana next year. Irish american plays invade English Heaters by the associated press the Best Irish play in years and a spate of american classics dominate the London stage this summer As Quot the capital attempts to Rouse itself from a sluggish theatrical year. Brian Friel s dancing at , Winner of the 1991 Laurence Olivier award for Best play concerns five Sisters living in county Donegal in Northwest Ireland. Its current commercial run at the Phoenix theater follows a sell out engagement at the Royal National theater last fall. The play is set in late August 19 19, prior to the annual Harvest festival or As the Mundy women anticipate the event in various ways they must also adjust to the return from Uganda of their brother. Aik a former missionary. The play addresses issues of Faith and ritual of atmosphere and incident All told in a lyrical style. The 62-year-old playwright is Best known in the United Stales for Philadelphia Here i come Quot 1966aristocrats 1979and translations 1981. Originally scheduled for Broadway last March the Abbey theater of Dublin production was postponed because of a perceived decline in attendant e during the Gulf War. It is now set for an it. 1 7 Bow at the Plymouth theater. The summer also finds a mixture of american plays old and new filling London playhouses. Among them Are National theater s production of Eugene o Neill s Long Day s journey into night. Timothy West and Prunella Seales who Are married in real Lile play the tormented tyrones with Sean Mcginley and Stephen Dillane As their sons. Last month sir Peter Hall opened his eagerly awaited London revival of ten Lessee Williams the Rose Tattoo. Julie Walters inherits Anna Magnani s Academy award winning role As the sicilian widow Serafina Delle Rose. Vanessa Redgrave stars in a new americ an play a Martin Sherman s lv7/e/i she darned which is opening aug. 7 at a West end theater to be announced. I be play casts the a it Tress is dancer Isadora Duncan whom she played on is teen in the 1 969 movie tin i Oves of Isadora i his season s one new English play on the West end Ben Ellon s silly no. Is a comedy about a mean spirited gossip columnist. It survived hostile reviews that would have killed a show on Broadway Ove Reighl and is it it my inning its run at the i Heater kit it Al i Tay Markel. July 25, i pit stripes Magazine 7 a
