Mister Paradise PA

by Williams,Tennessee

• ISBN13: 9780811216203
• ISBN10: 0811216209
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-04-25
• Publisher: New Directions

Summary

Tennessee Williams had a distinct talent for writing short plays and, not surprisingly, this remarkable new collection of never-before-published one-acts includes some of his most poignant and hilarious characters: the indefatigable, witty and tough drag queens of And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens... ; the strange little man behind the nom de plume Mister Paradise ; and the extravagant mistress who cheats on her married man in The Pink Bedroom . Most were written in the 1930s and early 1940s when Williams was already flexing his theatrical imagination. Chosen from over seventy unpublished one-acts, these are some of Williams's finest; several have premiered recently at The Hartford Stage Co., The Kennedy Center, the Manhattan Theatre Club and the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. Included in this volume: These Are the Stairs You Got to Watch Mister Paradise The Palooka Escape Why Do You Smoke So Much, Lily? Summer At the Lake The Big Game The Pink Bedroom The Fat Man's Wife Thank You, Kind Spirit The Municipal Abattoir Adam and Eve on a Ferry And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens... Long associated with Williams, acclaimed stage and film actors Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson provide a fresh and challenging foreword for actors, directors, and readers.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Introduction	xv
Acknowledgements	xxxv
These Are the Stairs You Got to Watch	1	(16)
Mister Paradise	17	(10)
The Palooka	27	(10)
Escape	37	(8)
Why Do You Smoke So Much, Lily?	45	(10)
Summer at the Lake	55	(20)
The Big Game	75	(28)
The Pink Bedroom	103	(16)
The Fat Man's Wife	119	(24)
Thank You, Kind Spirit	143	(14)
The Municipal Abattoir	157	(10)
Adam and Eve on a Ferry	167	(20)
And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens . . .	187	(34)
Notes on the Text	221	(24)
Abbreviations	245