Archived: The Long Goodbye and Other Shorts by Tennessee Williams

“The peak of my virtuosity was in the one-act plays. Some of which are like firecrackers on a rope” – Tennessee Williams

The great Tennessee Williams was a multi-award-winning American playwright who changed the face of American theatre. Best known for his plays The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams’ electrifying short plays have also fascinated and thrilled actors and audiences for decades.

We begin in a bedroom, as a number of characters drift in and out, unpacking their troubled lives, impassioned relationships and personal dramas, some full of regret and missed opportunity, some caught in fantasy, some mired in a murky pit of alcohol dependency. Each story looks deep into the complexity and fragility of human nature; at times, difficult to witness, but constantly compelling and mesmeric to experience.

This is a unique opportunity to see a hand-picked selection of rarely performed short plays, written mostly in the 1940s and set in St Louis, Missouri, where Tennessee Williams grew up.

The Long Goodbye… is performed by the full cohort of graduating students from Bristol School of Acting.

Director – Alison Reid

Lighting – Thomas Pitchers

Sound – Phil Zikking

The evening includes the following plays: The Magic Tower, This Property is Condemned, Honor the Living, Talk to Me Like the Rain, The Lady of Larkspur, Every 20 Minutes, Hello from Betha, Auto Da Fé, The Long Goodbye