Two Backstage Views of Tennessee Williams and His Demons

Tennessee Williams called them his “blue devils”--bouts of anxiety or depression that could make him nearly suicidal. They shattered his life but fueled his art.

Such behind-the-scenes drama continues to fascinate theatergoers almost as much as Williams’ plays do, as evidenced by a couple of long-running shows that recently announced extensions. The haunting “Tennessee in the Summer,” at the Laurelgrove Theatre, contemplates the downward spiral of Williams’ later years, while the less effective “Mr. Williams and Miss Wood,” at the Chandler Studio, takes an overarching look at his career and, particularly, his relationship with his influential agent, Audrey Wood.

Joe Besecker’s “Tennessee in the Summer” takes place in June 1972 in New York, where Williams is promoting his play “Small Craft Warnings” and working on revisions to “Out Cry.”

As the audience enters the theater, the 61-year-old Williams (Jack Heller) is already seated before a typewriter in his hotel room, trying to will the words to come. The floor is littered with discarded writing attempts. An empty liquor bottle lies on its side, and Williams idly fingers a bottle of pills--a chilling precursor of his death in February 1983, when he will swallow and suffocate on the pill-bottle cap he uses to feed himself two Seconal capsules.

A woman (Shareen Mitchell) in a white satin nightgown is asleep in Williams’ bed. When she wakes, she complains about “the unearthly aroma of decaying paper” in the room and says: “You’re wasting your time writing this play. The critics have already written your obituary.”

This dark angel’s identity is revealed as Williams’ fevered state carries him back to the great loves of his life: his sweet but mentally unstable sister, Rose (Louise Davis), abandoned in Williams’ haste to leave home, and lean, handsome Frank Merlo (Robert Standley, in a surpassingly tender portrayal), pushed away despite nearly 15 years of devoted companionship.

Under Barbara Bain’s direction, the action remains grippingly true-to-life, even as it unfolds in a haze of heat and memory (evoked by designers Thomas Meleck, set, and Kathi O’Donohue, lights).

What “Tennessee in the Summer” shows us, “Mr. Williams and Miss Wood” merely tells us. Max Wilk adapted the piece from the memoir “Represented by Audrey Wood,” which the agent wrote with Wilk’s assistance.

In the Action/Reaction Theater Company presentation, Williams and Wood sit at a heavenly version of Sardi’s, where they spend most of their time turned toward the audience, chronologically listing Williams’ accomplishments and Wood’s contributions to them.

The younger Williams (Richard Scofield) depicted here is, at first, more courtly and kind than the one in “Tennessee in the Summer.” But as time passes, drugs and booze--along with deepening neurosis--cause him to behave irrationally toward Wood (Diana Angelina, who lends elegance and a touch of motherliness to this no-nonsense businesswoman).

Director Michael Holmes has added a waiter (David Stewart) to the action, which gives Scofield someone to flirt with when the reminiscences begin to focus on Williams’ personal excesses. But with Scofield and Angelina essentially trapped in their booth, the staging remains awfully static.

“Tennessee in the Summer,” Laurelgrove Theatre, 12265 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Fridays, 8 p.m. Indefinitely. $20. (818) 760-8368 or (323) 655-TKTS. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

“Mr. Williams and Miss Wood,” Chandler Studio, 12443 Chandler Blvd., North Hollywood. Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Oct. 27. $10. (818) 786-1045. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.