I don’t do this often, but the complete lack of consensus in this week’s reviews of The Night of the Iguana is hilarious.

The first horse out of the gate was Misha Berson at the Seattle Times: she says John Procaccino and Suzanne Bouchard, the leads in ACT’s latest, “aren’t merely convincing as Shannon, a washed-up former minister, and Hannah, a genteel but steely sketch artist. As the night in question unfolds, these esteemed Seattle actors actually seem to sizzle and burn through their roles, as if passing through a refiners’ fire.” Blacksmithery? Hot.

Steve Wiecking at the Weekly gets downright vituperative: “The production is so miscast, in fact, that there’s a loud voice in your head screaming ‘Liar!’ each time a character onstage utters a line that does not fit the description of the performer we’re watching.” He singles out Procaccino for especial venom, and actually confesses to having “a soft spot for Suzanne Bouchard” (!), quibbling only over her age.

(Freelancer Gianni Truzzi at the P-I is a little confusing, but he observes that there’s no sexual tension, and blames that deficit on Procaccino.)

For my part, I liked Procaccino (differing from Truzzi and Wiecking), thought the show was cast mostly by type (again disagreeing with Wiecking, though I do agree Patricia Hodges was all wrong for Maxine), have what one might call a hard spot for the irredeemably bland Suzanne Bouchard (differing with Wiecking), and certainly can’t see the “summer storm” Berson blissfully invokes.

Who’s right, oh Forums readers?