10 Myths About Tennessee Williams

We see a lot of clickbait online these days with titles like "Twenty-Six Dogs Who Don't Have Their Lives Together" or "Five Tips For a Better Workout Without Exercising" or "More Than One Way To Skin a Cat". In traditional clickbait fashion, today we'll be debunking...

10 Myths About Tennessee Williams (and Some About His Plays)

#1) Tennessee Williams is from Tennessee.
False. Tennessee Williams was born in Columbus, Mississippi. There are various rumors as to how he came to adopt the nom-de-plume, but the fact is, while he was a Southerner...he was not a Tennesseean.

Left: Tennessee's first home in Columbus, Mississippi.

#2) Tennessee Williams found religion late in his life.
False. At any point in his life, Tennessee knew just where to find a church. In his early childhood, he was raised by his mother and his loving grandparents—a minister and his wife. They instilled in young Tom, as he was known then, a solid understanding of Christian scripture and practice. Eventually, Tennessee would break away from strictly organized religion, but he always had a respect for what went on in houses of worship. His plays frequently included religious themes and references, showcasing Williams' understanding and fascination with the spiritual. This myth is perpetuated by the idea that his brother Dakin "saved" Tennessee after a difficult period during the 1960s. Tennessee allowed his brother to "convert" him to Roman Catholicism, but the playwright would then go on to say that it didn't really stick.

#3) Tennessee Williams hated his family.
Very False.  Tennessee loved his sister Rose dearly, and ventured to take care of her for his entire life. His relationship with his mother, while strained at times (whose isn't?), was one of devotion and understanding between two complex people. His brother Dakin was never his closest sibling, but the two got on well enough, it would seem. Of course his relationship was wonderful with his grandparents, going so far as to travel with his elderly grandfather all over the world. The most troublesome relationship, perhaps, is that with his father, Cornelius. They'd never see eye to eye in their lifetimes, but upon Cornelius's death, Tennessee wrote a touching essay exploring his feelings about his father. In "The Man In the Overstuffed Chair", Tennessee expressed a touching understanding of the troubled patriarch of the Williams clan.

#4) Tennessee Williams lived his life in the closet.
False. While Tennessee didn't wear his sexuality on his sleeve in the same way as Gore Vidal or Truman Capote, he certainly didn't work to hide it. In the 1960s and 70s, he came under fire for not being as proactive as some activists thought he should be. He was accused of demonizing his gay characters or writing covertly gay characters in the guise of women. The truth is, he wrote gay character just as raw, broken, and magnificent as any of his other characters. However, in the films based on his plays, gay themes would often be cut out or whittled down by the studios for censorship purposes. All the more reason to see his plays in a live theatre!

#5) Tennessee Williams choked on a bottle cap and died.
False. Tennessee didn't choke to death. If you want to know more about this myth, John Lahr's biography, Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh is a good place to start. But I won't spoil the surprise.

#6) Tennessee Williams only wrote about Southern belles.                              Below - TW & Anna Magnani.

False. Tennessee wrote some of the most famous Southern belles in cultural memory—Blanche DuBois, Maggie the Cat, Amanda Wingfield...but he wrote about so much more. From Mexico to Rome; Russia to the bottom of the sea—Tennessee's plays spanned the globe, always filled with colorful and contrasting characters.

#7) Tennessee Williams was a misogynist.
Extra False. Many of Williams' richest, most developed characters were women. He basically set the standard in eroticizing the male body through the lens of the female character—which is the opposite of say, a Bond film, in which women are set dressing and men rule the world. Even in a world where the men hold the power, which is often the case in the symbolic and realistic worlds in Williams' plays, the female voices are some of the most pointed and poignant.

#8) Special Super-Southern Myth: Tennessee Williams paints a negative portrait of the South.
Well, yes and no. If by "negative" you mean "not sugar-coated", then yes. Tennessee wrote the South the same way he wrote every other locale: with brutal, unflinching honesty. The heroes have flaws, the antagonists can be charismatic, and society looks like society—at best, dysfunctional. What some might be unused to seeing is the South drawn in such a way that's not precious, sweet, and slow. That South is two-dimensional. Tennessee's is not.

#9) Tennessee Williams detested St. Louis, Missouri.

Below: The infamous shoe factory alluded to in The Glass Menagerie.

Qualification: Sometimes. Young Tom Williams and even young-ish Tennessee expressed a strong distaste for "the city of St. Pollution". He was dragged from an idyllic Southern landscape into a cramped urban setting where he was poked fun at for his accent and, more importantly, was made to live in a hostile environment at home, where his mother and father were constantly at odds. Later in his life, however, Tennessee would come to accept that St. Louis was part of his artistic journey. While it was never his favorite place, Tennessee would forgive St. Louis for what he came to understand were offenses committed not by the place, but by circumstances.

#10) Tennessee Williams is America's Greatest Playwright.

TRUE! Not a myth! ...Well, we think so, anyway. And we hope you agree. But whether you love Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill, Lillian Hellman, August Wilson, or whomever—we hope your life has been or will be enriched by Williams' unique contribution to the American theatre landscape.

www.twtheatrenola.com

The "Shakespeare" Treatment

The Great and Challenging Aspects of Staging Classics

by Augustin J Correro

One of the main goals of a TWTC production is to share with the audience a performance that is unique and innovative. We purposefully aim not to restage films, since movies will always do movies better than theatre artists. We like to bend expectations and try new things. We believe that's what will help us to keep theatre relevant and living. The alternative to living theatre is artificial theatre: theatre as an artifact.

We have great reverence for artifacts, don't get me wrong. However, artifacts aren't something we're normally allowed to touch. Just the same, it's hard for artifacts to touch us from the inside of a glass case—and we're interested in theatre that touches people.

Somewhat often, audience members express a feeling of disconnection (of not being touched) when they see classics produced. Moliere falls flat for them, or Sophocles is less of a tragedy and more of a snooze. The folks that share this feeling with me express that they appreciate the plays, but that they really don't derive enjoyment from seeing them. One culprit for this kind of audience exclusion is expectation. Producers and artists alike have to grapple with the expectations of what plays might-or-should look and sound like, sometimes to the detriment of the experience. Whether it's austere Ibsen or fancy-schmancy Shaw, people have expectations about plays and playwrights, and they can be hard to shake.

Several of Tennessee Williams' plays are American classics. Naturally, they come with expectations (conventions like Southern belles wrestling with desire or families battling over inheritance). In addition to informing how the better known plays are staged, the TW classics dictate how the general public views the plays they're not as familiar with. For example, it's hard to find a review of a Tennessee Williams play that doesn't compare the play being discussed to Streetcar, The Glass Menagerie, or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. 

In addition to fulfilling expectations set down by other plays, some productions of Williams' works seem to mimic conventions from previous stagings, giving the audience some approximation of what they might have come to expect. This creates even more stagnancy in how Williams' plays are staged. 

However, even though many productions err on the familiar side, others blow the lid off of those expectations. They challenge the expectations, toss off the conventions, and create unique iterations of the plays. For the audience, it really can go either way. It can be an absolute thrill to see a complete departure or a style of Tennessee they never expected, or it can be a blazing hot mess. 

When it comes to staging plays, there are those who would say "do it like it's been done before, always", or more pragmatically "give the people what they want". These are valid notions, but to illuminate the other side of the argument, I'd like to draw a comparison between Tennessee Williams and the other greatest English-speaking playwright: William Shakespeare.

There are die-hard purists in both the Williams and the Shakespeare camps, suggesting the actor doesn't breathe or blink unless it's in the script . There are also those who would yank the literary texts out of the library and burn the books, choosing only to stage the heart and soul of the plays, with no regard for the particulars. We at TWTC prefer a more measured approach than either of these, and we're not alone.

There are lots of factors which contribute to the "Shakespeare Treatment", where we universally acknowledge that something is "great", but when we go to see it or pick it up to present it, we can't figure out why it doesn't make us feel "great". It's also hard to express why to those around us because we're afraid to sound unsophisticated when we say "Shakespeare is over my head" or "Tennessee Williams is like grandma stuff". We can feel left out when we're told that Shakespeare is universal and that Tennessee Williams is the poet of the human soul, but that production with those good actors around that lacy table just wasn't our cup of tea. I've been there. Then I saw productions that changed my mind.

Some of the most thrilling iterations of Shakespeare that I've ever seen were reimagined, updated in terms of staging, or non-traditionally cast. Some of them were painstakingly staged to resemble the original productions but focused on the audience's understanding rather than showcasing the esoteric virtuosity of the performers. Either way works, as long as it's audience-centered. By treating Shakespeare's plays as living art, companies are able to engage new audiences, captivate existing ones, and challenge artists—all while respecting the text. Rather than pumping formaldehyde into the plays to preserve them at just below room temperature, these kinds of productions keep blood flowing to the heart and brain of theatre, keeping it alive, hot, and vital.

The same can be said of Williams' plays, and it's our hope that more productions will exhibit daring, innovation, and imagination. We've seen it work (we've seen it not-so-much work, too), and TWTC is committed to sharing new, unique, and enriched stagings with the New Orleans community.

Our upcoming production of Small Craft Warnings by Tennessee Williams features a diverse cast and is set during the holidays, present day. It's performed very close to the audience in a bar (the setting put down by TW in the script), and you can drink from the very same bar as the characters. These choices are all departures from previous productions, but were made with respect for the text and the audience. See how it makes you feel. We'll see you at the theatre!

Small Craft Warnings by Tennessee Williams

December 10-20, Thursdays-Monday. 8pm Weekdays, 7pm Saturdays & Sundays. 

Performed at Mag's 940 - 940 Elysian Fields (at Elysian & North Rampart)

Tickets can be purchased at www.twtheatrenola.com or by calling 504-264-2580

Tennessee Around Town

TWTC’s Commitment to Our Community

As we gear up for our next show, TWTC wants to share some of the good work we’ve been doing offstage, too! We’re committed to engaging our community and sharing Tennessee with New Orleans and the surrounding area. If you know of a school or organization who would like to learn more, email info@twtheatrenola.com !

Students from Bonnabel High School in Kenner came to see Kingdom of Earth and were treated to a a special discount and got to partake in our first Talking Tennessee session before the show! Above are some of the students after the show with Sean Richmond, who played Chicken.

Co-Artistic Directors Nick and Augustin gave an informative talk about Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire, and led a Q&A with students from Cabrini High School in New  Orleans!

Will Mr. Merriwether Return from Memphis? was FREE to anyone who wanted to attend, and was hosted by New Orleans Public Library. Pictured above, the show was performed outside on a perfect night for theatre on the lawn of Latter Library.

Look forward to more posts about TWTC in our community!