Episode 6: Embracing Proclivities: Tennessee Williams in New Orleans

James and Alex are in the studio to discuss one of Alex's favorite eras of theatre and literary history: Tennessee Williams' life in New Orleans. Learn how the playwright came to discover himself, his sexuality, and many of his iconic characters and settings during his multiple periods spent in and just outside the French Quarter—first as an impoverished and repressed young aspiring writer, and later as the acclaimed playwright of The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire. 

Reading List 

Here, find articles that we either mentioned in the episode, or that we think might enrich and/or further the conversations we had. 

Tennessee in New Orleans

By Alexandra Kennon

Where one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century found a spiritual home

Read more about the Historic New Orleans Collection's 2022 exhibition on Williams' life and plays here:

Backstage at A Streetcar Named Desire

Read more about when Alex played the title character in the world premiere of Williams' one-act play Ivan's Widow with the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans in 2016 here: 

Review: Tennessee Williams Theatre Company's Weird Tales exist in dark, supernatural world (NOLA.com)

Tennessee Williams Theatre Company to Present WEIRD TALES (BroadwayWorld.com)

En Avant: The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans Presents Weird Tales (HuffPost)

Read more about the other rare Williams play Alex worked on when she served as Production Stage Manager for The Mutilated at the Contemporary Arts Center in 2015 here:

Mink Stole & Donna Duplantier to Lead THE MUTILATED at the CAC, 11/19-21 (BroadwayWorld.com)

Tennessee Williams' The Mutilated (CACNO.com) 

And (perhaps against her better judgement), here are some production stills of Alex performing as "She," the title character of Ivan's Widow in the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company's world premiere of the play: