"Moldy shutters with ferns and ivy growing through their missing slats surround the stage at Gunston Theater II--a vision of decay in New Orleans that seems all too apt at present but also captures the ambiance Tennessee Williams required in these two one-acts. Portrait of a Madonna is the play in which he first imagined the character who would eventually become Blanche DuBois--Miss Lucretia Collins, whose air of frazzled delicacy masks a will of iron when it comes to protecting her privacy and her memories. Lately, she has been imagining that a long-lost lover has returned and has nightly been "indulging his senses"--a rape fantasy worrisome enough that the hotel manager has decided it's time she relocated to the state asylum. After intermission comes Suddenly Last Summer, another Williams one-act in which worries about the asylum loom large. Mrs. Violet Venable invites a lobotomist to interview her niece Catharine, with an eye to permanently silencing her. It's easy to see the attraction of producing the play for a company like Keegan, with its stable of accomplished actresses. The troupe is offering a discount for patrons who want to see both this show and its Streetcar Named Desire, which is currently at the Church Street Theater." --Bob Mondello

Visit Washington City Paper at: www.washingtoncitypaper.com