Courtesy of the Historic New Orleans Collection
Tennessee Williams is today considered one of the twentieth century's most significant playwrights, and much of his inspiration for his work was derived from his time 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
Courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection.
Tennessee Williams (left) with his partner Pancho Rodriguez y Gonzalezin Jackson Square, ca. 1945. (The Fred W. Todd Williams Collection at the Historic New Orleans Collection).
Read more about the Historic New Orleans Collection's 2022 exhibition on Williams' life and plays here:
Backstage at A Streetcar Named Desire
Courtesy of the Historic New Orleans Collection.
"Backstage at A Streetcar Named Desire" will be on display at the Historic New Orleans Collection until June 3.
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:
Photo by Ride Hamilton.
Alexandra Kennon as Ivan's Widow by Tennessee Williams (World Premiere), Produced by the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans, 2016.
Photo by Ride Hamilton.
Alexandra Kennon and John Giardina in Ivan's Widow by Tennessee Williams (World Premiere), Produced by the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans, 2016.
Photo by Ride Hamilton
Alexandra Kennon as Ivan's Widow by Tennessee Williams (World Premiere), Produced by the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans, 2016.
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