Along with Eugene O’Neil and Arthur Miller, Columbus-born Tennessee Williams remains recognized as one of the greatest American playwrights of the 21st Century, his plays often plumbing the depths of the heart.
For 18 years now, organizers of the annual Tennessee Williams Tribute, have kept Williams’ memory – and more importantly, his work – alive in the city of his birth.
If Williams is rightly recognized for his creative brilliance, the same could be said for those who’ve staged the Tennessee Williams Tribute for nearly two decades. Each year, when it seems the topic has been thoroughly exhausted, the Tribute committee finds a way to present Williams in a new light.
This year’s Tribute may have exceeded previous efforts, in that it casts the writer in a far different light through the stage production of “Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody,” written by Tim Sniffen and Tom Ryder. The comedy imagines what would have happened if the some of the great playwrights of the middle 20th Century – Williams, Miller, Thornton Wilder and Edward Albee – had all collaborated on a single stage production.
The play pokes gentle fun at theater, while reminding the audience of the genius behind many of literature’s greatest works of art.
The play is but one of several events planned for this year’s Tribute, which carries the them “Laugh Lines.”
We applaud the efforts by the Tribute committee, whose year-round work culminating in the annual event keeps Williams work alive in our community. Without them, Tennessee Williams’ ongoing presence in our community would just be another old home with a historical marker out front.
Williams’ work remains as relevant today as when it was written. The annual Tribute introduces younger generations to his important work while reacquainting older generations to the work of the city’s most famous native son.
The Tribute, which began Thursday, continues through Sunday. For more information or ticket purchases, visit tennesseewilliamstribute.org or call 662-386-8591.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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