Summer and Smoke, a sensual period play by Tennessee Williams is a treat, a real human drama and a masterful example of Williams' work as a pre-eminent American playwright.

Stage Centre Productions is offering this rarely performed piece at Fairview Library Theatre with performances you'll remember for a long time after the final bow.

It deals with some heavy subjects like alcoholism, promiscuity and drug addiction with a fierce realism dashed off with a sense of humour. If the dialogue seems long and drawn out (these Southern drawls crawl out like molasses at times), you'll likely find yourself lost in the beautiful story and sensitive portrayals of the two would-be lovers.

It's 1906 in the Deep South. Alma is a preacher's daughter, a Conservative Southern belle who fancies the soon-to-be doctor John Buchanan Jr. She is flittish and excitable at the sight of the cocksure John, who tries his best methods of persuasion on her. We follow them over the next six months of personal transformation as, to paraphrase a line from the show, the tables turn with a vengeance.

Debbie Yuen is outstanding as Alma. Though she may carry a slightly repetitive lilt to her voice, her range and depth is nothing short of remarkable. Tendencies to play a bit too loud and a bit too shrill are forgotten by the second act, when she has undergone such a transformation that you realize very few people could pull off such a dichotomy as Alma, which Yuen pulls off with ease.

Will van der Zyl's Dr. John is a rogue, a cad, a libidinous gigolo who acts upon his desires. He not only succeeds, but can also lose himself in the intensity of later scenes, with violent outbursts or rage-induced tirades.

With the amount of dialogue in the show between Alma and John, it's virtually a two-hander tour-de-force. However, they're supported by an ensemble that may be somewhat uneven, but still has winning performances from folks like the winsome and vivacious Sara Van Buskirk as Nellie, the object of the mature John's affections, and Dani Holden as a funny and opinionated Mrs. Bassett.

Director L. Garth Allen has helped craft these great performances, but designer L. Garth Allen might have had more success with some delegating. His lighting concept uses the rich, warm colours of summer, but it lacks subtlety and variety, while his blocking of scenes sometimes results in actors stepping out of the light and getting lost in the shadows.

Meanwhile, his three-ringed set is perhaps a bit too large for the small Fairview stage - the actors have to awkwardly sidestep their way around the stage when coming on or off.

These are minor quibbles with a haunting piece of theatre executed with polish and dedication by this fantastic ensemble.

Stage Centre Productions offers Summer and Smoke at Fairview Library Theatre, 35 Fairview Mall Dr., until Saturday, December 5th. For tickets and performance schedule please click here visit or call the box office at 416-299-5557.