Today is the 100th anniversary of Tennessee Williams' birth and it is truly something to celebrate. Please share, in the comments section below this article, your first exposure to a Tennessee Williams work.
Mine was in French: a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in Quebec City. But my first English-language production was at Centaur Theatre and it was Streetcar Named Desire. I wish I could tell you more than it starred Elizabeth Shepherd as Blanche and Nick Mancuso as Stanley but after the very hunky Mancuso took his shirt off during the play, I went blind and deaf for the rest of the show.
Re Mancuso: You and me both, GC. I took it for granted at the time but when I think back now, they were very fine performances.
ReplyDeleteSince that time, and maybe even before, I often used Blanche's "I've always depended on the kindness of strangers" line in various life situations. But it took maturity, not to mention cancer, to really understand its poignancy.
For me, years before Streetcar, a high school study of The Glass Menagerie was impactful. As a young woman struggling to reconcile burdens from my past and desperately trying to fit into the present, Laura and Tom spoke to my dreams, illusions and sadly, the fragility of my reality. Their lessons continue to resonate.
you know - meangerie - have never seen a production and now, with all the great female actors reaching "a certain age" and it being only four characters, it is ripe for revival!
ReplyDelete