The most striking feature of Tennessee Williams Summer and Smoke as performed at the Guthrie Theater was the transformation of the characters. There are several elements that reflect this transformation. These elements are set, costumes and character mannerisms, which are all symbolic. As a result of these complexities, the audience is exposed to a very deep and meaningful production. Summer and Smoke illustrates the transformation of the human mind and body through eloquent symbolic subtleties that are present through out the play.The set is a powerful tool in the hands of it's designer. The feel of a set to the audience and the characters is an important facet of making a production successful. The choice of furniture style and dcor can help the audience get a feel for the characters that are portrayed as using this furniture. A person with a rough-cut personality is usually portrayed with rough furniture. On the other hand, a softhearted character is portrayed with furniture that relays his/her softness.In the production, the choice of furniture styles and dcor in Alma's house and John's house indicate that these two characters are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Alma's furnishings consist of velvet cloth furniture, which is a soft, nurturing material, that symbolizes her child like naivete and her family's good heartedness. On the other hand, the doctor's furniture in the first half of the play, is pale yellow wood furniture. This choice seems to scream at me that the characters that are being portrayed with this particular set are inanimate and cold just like the wood. The pale yellow color in the furniture hints at the fact that a particular character is suffering from some form of an illness. In John Jr.'s case, this represents his disbelief in a spiritual side to the human being. This scene changes dramatically in the second half of the play. The doctor's office, which was formerly yellow wood, turns into a w...
