A Cen-tenn-ial Celebration
The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival turns 25 at the author’s 100th birthday.
The week of March 23 paid tribute to one of New Orleans’ most iconic and revered literary legends: the great Tennessee Williams, scribe of A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Glass Menagerie and many more.
“Bright, Beautiful Things,” a special event featuring Williams’ one-act plays at the Southern Repertory Theatre, premiered on March 23. The three plays performed were The Pretty Trap, The Magic Tower and Every Twenty Minutes.
Four-time Tony Award winner Zoe Caldwell hosted the evening, which featured cocktails and dessert, not to mention wit, whimsy and southern decadence.
The opening gala, “Remembering Tennessee: The Festival Gala Celebration,” was held March 24 at Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré.
The five-day fête continued with special events, readings, one-act play competitions, celebrity interviews, a scholars’ conference, a breakfast book club, a short fiction contest, French Quarter literary walking tours, a book fair and more.
Williams himself would have celebrated his 100th birthday during this year’s festival, on March 26.
