GRIST TO THE MILL PRODUCTIONS
27 WAGONS FULL OF COTTON
& THE INTERVEW
Directed by Ross Ericson
Featuring: Josie Brightwell, Max Obertello, and Ross Ericson
27 Wagons Full of Cotton is a mighty big piece of business to fall into the lap of impoverished gin owner Jake Meighan. So how come he got so lucky, and what can he do to keep the contract? Silva Vicarro doesn’t believe it was luck, he thinks that Jake burnt down his cotton gin, and now he is looking for revenge. So just how far is he prepared to go? Perhaps Flora, Jake’s young wife, may be able to provide an answer for both of them?
In The Interview Chapuzot, a bar owner, finds himself being interrogated by a rather hard drinking and determined newspaper reporter, who has accused him of beating his wife – but Chapuzot isn’t married. The journalist refuses to believe him so the question is what will run out first – the beer or Chapuzot’s patience?
27 Wagons Full of Cotton is arguably Tennessee Williams’ greatest short play and a forgotten masterpiece. It was the basis for Baby Doll, the controversial film by Elia Kazan, and was rediscovered and revived by Make&Bake in 2011 – who produced it to much critical acclaim at the Riverside Studios last year, where it was long listed for a What’s On Stage Award. The Make&Bake production starred Ross Ericson as Jake Meighan, a role that he is reprising for us.
The Interview by Octave Mirabeau is another long lost masterpiece, and this new translation by Claire Chard moves the setting from France to New Orleans. It is a wonderfully comic piece that provides a perfect partner to the steamy 27 Wagons.
Theatre Reviews London – “the performances in … 27 Wagons, are worth the price of admission alone”
Views from the Gods –
“passionate and heartfelt productions”, “an intimate and entertaining double-bill, Grist to the Mill have succeeded in showing the best of both their material and performers”
The Vibe Gallery, above the Vibe Bar, 91-95 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL
7th July to 26th July 2012.