Curtain Calls: Seldom-performed ‘Suddenly, Last Summer’ on stage this month in Alameda

Here’s your chance to catch the seldom-performed Tennessee Williams classic — “Suddenly, Last Summer” — at Alameda’s Altarena Playhouse through June 29.

Artistic Director Katina Psihos Letheule directs the powerful drama, which features Billie J. Simmons as the controlling matriarch Violet Venable and Thomas Hutchinson as Dr. Cukrowicz, whom she wants to perform a lobotomy on her niece who had the audacity to repeat the true story of the death of Venable’s son. Sarah Zehner portrays the niece Catherine with Lori Mrochinski as her mother and Danail Grergiev as her brother. Jasmine Guerrero is Venable’s hard-working assistant.

“‘Suddenly, Last Summer’ is a tragically beautiful play. It addresses manipulation by the monied and powerful against those who are not,” said Letheule.

The cast sk