Accentricities Of A Nightingale Character Analysis

In the University of Alabama production of “The Eccentricities of A Nightingale”, all of the actors made their characters their own and I was really impressed with the way it turned out. Especially Chelsea Reynolds, who played Alma, I could really feel the emotion of her character just radiate into the audience. One of Tennessee William's themes of the play is alienation and isolation, which I felt from not only Alma’s character, but also even form Ross Birdsong, who performed John’s character. I could feel his isolation from having a controlling mother who is constantly obsessed with him and controlling a lot of what he does, I saw it very subtly but I loved the dimensions he put into that character, I really felt this during the scene of the
beginning of the play when John’s mother, played by Deborah Parker, was sitting on his bed (really just a block on stage, but I liked how the production team made the audience rely on a lot of imagination) and explaining to him how he should feel and treat Alma and telling him to blow off the get to together at Alma’s home.
Just from the look on Ross Birdsong’s face made me think how John’s character probably grew up not being able to go or do things he wanted to if his mother found them a waste of time, silly, or something that would not reflect them image she wanted her family to have. In the paytext, I really disliked Alma's father and thought he was just being over controlling, but after watching William Green’s performance of the role, I really started to feel sympathy for the character. I remember during the panel, that Green’s major goal for his character was to make the audience understand his struggles more effectively. He wanted the audience to feel sympathy for the pastor’s struggles and problems instead of judging him based on his lines or actions. I realized halfway through the play what Reverend Winemiller’s motivation was: fear. His wife had completely gone mad and lost her senses leaving the pastor scared and unsure how to handle it. While on the surface level he acted embarrassed of his
wife but deep down I think he was really embarrassed of his unsureness of how to handle her. I think he was embarrassed that he did not know how to help her and how to cope with the loss of his sane-minded wife. I also think he was so hard on Alma because she started to show signs of his wife’s illness with her eccentricities and tried to nip it in the bud as much as he could. I think he relied on the advice and judgement of John’s mother since she held herself and her family to such a high standard. He relied on her advice and consul since he did not have his wife to do so. I think the treatment of Alma’s mother was a good example of how mental illness was treated in that time period. When Alma’s father first came to her to talk with her about her eccentricities he tried to explain to her in a kind way how she was acting. I think he was very deeply afraid that she would end up like her mother and he would have to take care of her as well, and always tried to hide her eccentricities to keep her from becoming like her mother. Overall, I think Green’s goals were met. I was so intrigued by his spin on the character and wondered if other actors had put in the work Green did. I think pastor Winemiller was alienated himself since his wife and daughter were alienated and was isolated by association.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this production and could related to Alma since I too, have had moments in my life where people alienated me for my own eccentricities. I think this was the reason I loved the play so much and understood Alma’s thoughts and feelings. Like the other plays I have seen this year, have appreciated the play more after seeing it play out in front of me, but it did not change my thoughts of the play, since I loved reading it as much as watching it, but the play really exceeded my expectations and all the UA productions have so far and it can’t wait to see what will be next.