Tennessee Williams once said, “Home is where you hang your childhood. For me, that is Mississippi.”
On Feb. 23-25, one of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright’s works is coming home. Not only to Mississippi, but to the town of Williams’ birth, in 1911. Columbus is the opening host city for a state tour of “Orpheus Descending.”
The Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival in Massachusetts, the New York-based Infinite Theatre, and Columbus’ own Tennessee Williams Tribute Committee present this powerful story set in the Mississippi Delta. The play is the recipient of a performance grant arranged by the Massachusetts festival and The Infinite Theatre Co.
“All this happened because the Tennessee Williams Tribute and the Columbus Arts Council have maintained a relationship with the Provincetown Festival for the last six years,” said Brenda Caradine, founder and chair of the Tribute held annually in September. “Cultural and artistic relationships that are nurtured bring a garden of growth for all involved.”
The Tribute, a celebration of Williams’ birthplace, has presented several productions first shown at the Provincetown Festival, but “Orpheus Descending” is by far the most ambitious undertaken in Columbus to date.
The play
“Orpheus Descending” is conceived as a morality play, to be performed in a house of worship. In Columbus, it takes place in the First United Methodist Church (FUMC) Artz Fellowship Hall at 602 College St.
The imagery in the text comes not only from the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus, but from Williams’ own Episcopal upbringing in small town Mississippi.
“What an amazing opportunity to bring this exquisite play back to its roots where it belongs,” said the production’s director, Nick Potenzieri. “We are incredibly honored to be invited.”
The story follows the handsome, guitar-playing Val Zavier (Thomas Beaudoin) as he tries valiantly to turn his back on corruption. He encounters a conflicted Italian immigrant named Lady Torrance (Irene Glezos) and the free-wheeling misfit Carol Cutrere (Beth Bartley). Broken, brazen and defiant, these three tragic figures are the ultimate outsiders. Yet their ordinary weaknesses reveal extraordinary zeal.
In Columbus
A cast and crew of 16 will begin arriving Tuesday. The carpet of Southern hospitality is being rolled out at several bed and breakfasts, as well as private homes.
A local army of volunteers is working on various aspects of the production. And three Columbus residents, Shane Tubbs, Philip Barnett and Caroline Hintz, have small roles in the play.
Six-year-old Caroline has a walk-on as the daughter of one of the characters.
“I think it’s going to be fun meeting the actors, and seeing who my ‘mother’ is,” she said Thursday. “I’m excited; I’m not scared at all. I want to be an actress one day.”
“What an opportunity for Caroline, to be able to work with professional actors and be in a Tennessee Williams play at this age,” said Caroline’s mother, Melanie Hintz, who had a lead role in the 2011 Tennessee Williams Tribute’s “The Night of the Iguana.”
Drama workshop
A unique opportunity for others interested in acting will be a free drama workshop conducted by Potenzieri, the director, and one of the actors.
The skills-based workshop Saturday, Feb. 25, from 10 a.m.-noon at the church is open to ages 12 and up. Acting experience is not necessary.
“This is a great opportunity for us, to have a free workshop like this, with this quality of expertise. We don’t get that very often,” said Laura Beth Berry, workshop coordinator and a member of FUMC. Berry also had a leading role in “The Night of the Iguana.”
Register by calling the FUMC office at 662-328-5252. The workshop is limited to 24 participants.
How to go
All performances are at 7 p.m. in the FUMC Artz Fellowship Hall.
“We are so grateful to First United Methodist Church for providing state of the art technical facilities to present the play,” stated Caradine.
Tickets for a special preview performance Feb. 23 are $5. Tickets for Feb. 24-25 are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and military personnel, and $5 for students.
On Friday night only, ticket holders are invited to a reception with the cast at the College Street home of Mississippi University for Women President Dr. Jim Borsig.
Purchase tickets at the Columbus Arts Council’s Rosenzweig Arts Center, 501 Main St. For additional ticket information, contact the CAC at 662-328-2787. For more about the play, visit muw.edu/tennesseewilliams.
Caradine said, “Tennessee Williams is the most recognizable person in the world who was born in Columbus. I like to say we have Elvis, Eli, Eudora, and Tennessee, too. … Columbus is on a roll; aren’t we proud of the city? I am!”
After Columbus, the play will be performed at the Paris-Yates Chapel in Oxford Feb. 26-28 and at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Jackson March 1-3.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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