Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis

“Suddenly Last Summer – like A Streetcar Named Desire before it – is drenched in Southern Gothic humidity, sex, passion, and insanity. It threatens tyranny and lobotomy. It talks of God and man; is man’s selfish nature an imitation of a cruel God? Tennessee Williams’ poetic-prose is working at an extremely high level in this play, revealing tormented souls and aching hearts the way great music reveals the unspeakable.” – Tim Ocel, Director This fresh retelling of Suddenly Last Summer, first performed in 1957, focuses on the life and death of closeted gay poet Sebastian Venable, whose mysterious death occurs while on a trip to Italy with his cousin Catharine. After the recent tragedy, Mrs. Venable will stop at nothing to keep her son’s (and her own) secrets safe. Generally accepted as a modern-day horror story, this play has autobiographical roots from Williams’ own family life. A drama by Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright Tennessee Williams, Suddenly Last Summer will be presented at the Catherine B. Berges Theatre at Center of Creative Arts (COCA) September 7-17. SPONSORED by MARY STRAUSS