September - October 2015

Upcoming Cape & Islands Fairs and Festivals

Cape Cod Life  /  September/October 2015 / , , ,

Writer: Daniela Beasley

Upcoming Cape & Islands Fairs and Festivals

September - October 2015

Cape Cod Life  /  September/October 2015 / , , ,

Writer: Daniela Beasley

Tennessee Williams Theater Festival • September 24-27

Celebrating a decade of high drama

Previews of six upcoming fairs and festivals—with details on many more

The Tennessee Williams Theater Festival commemorates its 10th anniversary this fall with “Year Tenn: A Decade of Tennessee Williams in Provincetown.” This four-day event, held Thursday to Sunday, September 24-27, features a variety of the famous playwright’s classics as well as some more obscure material with a goal of highlighting Provincetown’s ever-growing appreciation for Williams, who died in 1983.

To commemorate the anniversary, organizers are bringing back some of the casts from the festival’s greatest hits from the past decade and will showcase new works based on Williams’ short stories and earlier plays. The lineup includes classics such as The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore and festival favorites like The Parade. The festival also showcases the debut of a Williams play, Aimez-Vous lonesco?, which has never before been performed.

Naturally, the mission of the drama festival is to highlight Williams’s genius—and to show the significance of Provincetown in the playwright’s life. Williams spent four summers in Provincetown between 1940-1947; during this time, his success as a playwright fluctuated but he continued to find solace writing plays, short stories, and poems during his Provincetown stays.

“In many ways Williams was ahead of his time back then,” says Rory Marcus, the event’s public relations consultant. “He suffered a lot at the hands of critics in his later years. But we’re discovering that contemporary artists understand his plays and can interpret them, and audiences are enjoying them.”

The festival offers different ticket packages including a “study pass” for full-time students ($135), a flex pass which includes tickets to six performances and two opening and closing ceremonies of the buyer’s choice ($175), and an all access VIP “Carte Blanche” pass ($600 to $800). Tickets to individual shows can also be purchased at a cost of $15 to $35.

The plays will be performed at several venues around Provincetown. To view the schedule of shows, dates, times, and locations, visit twptown.org. For more information, call 866-789-8366.

Daniela Beasley

A resident of Mansfield, Daniela Beasley is a graduate of Iona College in New York and a former editorial intern for Cape Cod Life Publications.