Theatre in Review: Carson McCullers Talks About Love (Rattlestick Theatre) Carson McCullers Talks About Love isn't the worst thing I've seen this season, but it is surely one of the oddest. Basically a cabaret act served up without the cocktails, it features the singer Suzanne Vega impersonating the Southern Gothic writer, giving us a quick rundown on her life and singing a dozen or so songs -- by Vega and Duncan Sheik -- that have been composed for the occasion. If you're expecting something like The Belle of Amherst - the Musical, you're on the wrong track. Vega impersonates McCullers, but she can't be said to be giving a performance. Dressed like the author (in tweed skirt and blazer, white blouse and knee socks), sporting a very McCullers-style wig, and speaking in a southern accent that never once varies in cadence or intensity, she walks us through the main events of her life. It's pretty superficial stuff -- there's nothing new in terms of revelations or insights for even the most casual McCullers fan -- and the cause isn't helped by the songs, which all affect the same tone of dreamy detachment. (The one exception is a number titled "Harper Lee," in which McCullers gets a little catty about some of her literary contemporaries; of the title character, she notes, "I'd like to kill more than just that mockingbird.") Otherwise, it's the standard saga, touching on her disastrous marriage to the suicidal Reeves McCullers, her attachments to men and women, her boozing, and her catastrophically bad health. Noting the reaction of the audience members around me, it seems most likely that Carson McCullers isn't the point at all; Vega's fans are simply happy to see and hear her, and anything that gets her to write new material is all right by them. Vega is backed by the guitarist Andy Stack and the pianist (and musical theatre composer) Joe Iconis; with the latter she indulges in some remarkably unfunny patter, most notably about the correct pronunciation of W. H. Auden's first name. (This is an evening of ferocious name-dropping - everyone from Tennessee Williams to Gypsy Rose Lee to John Huston gets a nod.) The one laugh in the evening comes from Iconis' imitation of Elizabeth Taylor's performance in the film version of McCullers' novel Reflections in a Golden Eye.) It's hard to know what the director, Kay Matschullar contributed to the project, but it does unfold in confident fashion, and it has an attractive design. Louisa Thompson's set includes a reflective deck surrounded by Tivoli bulbs and a three-sided surround of largely empty bookshelves. Lenore Doxsee's inventive lighting constantly reworks the space - adding and removing a sense of depth, using color to change the mood, and providing subtle transitions. Nick Kourtides' sound design seems quite natural, except during those numbers when Vega is singing directly into a floor mic. Jessica Pabst's costume certainly conjures up McCullers' iconic look/ The oddest thing about the piece is that it never really explains why Carson McCullers is such an object of enduring interest to Suzanne Vega. If you're a fan of the singer, this probably won't matter. If you're not, the whole thing is likely to look like a rather laborious stunt.--David Barbour 
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