Summer and Smoke, Filigree Theatre’s season seven opener, has all of Tennessee Williams’ greatest hits: religious angst, sexual angst, and heavy doses of angsty angst, all set against a sweltering summer setting. It’s an interesting production choice for the onset of fall. But just like the cool evenings or rain showers that offer relief as Texas temperatures stretch throughout the season, there are beautiful bursts of joy throughout the heat of the days – or in this case, the languid heat of the play.
Most of the production occurs during the course of a fraught summer, one where minister’s daughter Alma (Kate Glasheen) becomes reacquainted with her childhood next door neighbor, the wayward Dr. John Buchanan (Brennan Patrick). Emotions flare with each encounter, leading to physical and philosophical entanglements neither is perfectly equipped for.
Alma embodies the melancholic heroine that graces all Williams scripts, full of piety and anxious sorrow. Glasheen performs Alma’s raw bundle of nerves in a shockingly endearing way. Her breathless laugh, the tension in her neck – it all speaks to a taut fragility. She’s a music teacher, but she is herself a violin string tuned too tightly, wound just past the point of a melodious tone.
Summer and Smoke has religious angst, sexual angst, and heavy doses of angsty angst, all set against a sweltering summer setting.
In contrast, the character of Johnny seems to lack any tuning at all, a petulant pretty package spiraling lackadaisically in the wind. Patrick absolutely pulls off this handsome lout, channeling the charm while never veering the slightest bit close to likeability. His Johnny is morally disgusting, loathsome in a way that has to take immense skill to pull off. His first interaction with Alma is forced via firecracker, a manufactured park bench chat where Patrick perfectly executes some version of 1940s negging. Watch out, pickup artists: Apparently Williams had the playbook of forcing proximity only to chip away at self esteem decades before YouTube popularized the narrative. The meat of the play relies on Alma and Johnny’s doomed attraction to each other. And while Glasheen and Patrick generate heat, it’s the rich characters left in the wake of the couple’s fiery interactions that add spark to the production.
As Alma’s parents, Michael Stuart’s Reverend Winemiller conveys every distressing small town decorous expectation, while Alma’s mother – a “feebleminded” woman who suffered a breakdown years prior – is a batty breath of fresh air from Meredith O’Brien. It establishes a pattern of women who defy expectations – whether through the willful dementia of O’Brien’s Mrs. Winemiller, or the dastardly delight of Shannon Grounds’ town gossip Mrs. Barrett.
Bit parts fill the shockingly large cast, and they shine. Bryan Headrick’s single scene as Alma’s insufferable acquaintance Vernon uses a slicked forward hairdo and widened eyes to great success, alongside fellow dork Devon Ragsdale, who creates an entire world with her timid, cowed demeanor. If these are Alma’s best choices for compatriots, it’s no wonder she feels suffocated.
Filigree debuts this in a new venue, leaving last season’s haunt at Factory on 5th for a stage near AFS Cinema. They’re still figuring out the space. Director Elizabeth V. Newman provides as much dynamic movement as she can in a more traditional house. The larger seating and larger stage offer opportunities for the future, even if I missed the intangible charm of the Factory. In the meantime, continue growing with Filigree as they nurture the fire within their company.
Filigree Theatre’s Summer and Smoke
The Linc Theatre
Through October 12
This article appears in October 3 • 2025.
