ORPHEUS DESCENDING – a play Williams was writing in it's first incarnation as Battle of Angels when he first came to Provincetown in 1940 – is our thematic centerpiece. 

Williams first major production Battle of Angles opened in 1940 in Boston and was panned by the critics. This failure was devastating to Williams but he continued to work on the play for 17 years because he said "...nothing is more precious to anybody than the emotional record of his youth..." It reopened in 1957 and soon after became the groundbreaking film, "The Fugitive Kind" starring two of his favorite actors, Marlon Brando and Anna Magnani.

This Williams classic follows the handsome, guitar-playing Val as he descends into a hell of a small-town variety store. The timeless myth of a poet who travels to the underworld- and returns to our world to share his visions of love and pain- inspired Williams for decades.

A seaside church becomes our stage for a full version of the text performed as a morality play. From New York's The Infinite Theatre, who brought us the 2009 Festival's crowd-pleasing Hotel Plays.

 Thomas Beaudoin as Val and Irene Glezos as Lady. Photo: George Causil

Orpheus Descending

by Tennessee Williams
directed by Nick Potenzieri
produced by Jodi Kelly and Beth Bartley
The Infinite Theatre, New York, New York

Stage Management by Sid King
Costumes and Assistant Stage Management by David Moyer
Props by Goldie Zwiebel
Festival Resident Lighting Design by Megan Tracy

Thomas Beaudoin as Val
Irene Glezos as Lady
Brenda Currin as Buelah Binnings
David Pendleton as Conjure Man
Ashton Crosby as Pee Wee
Michele Tauber as Nurse Porter
Anne Reingold as Vee
Skid Maher as Dog
Randi Sobol as Dolly
Goldie Zwiebel as Sister Temple
Sean O'Connor as Sheriff Talbott and David Cutrere
Jim Dimmuno as Jabe Torrance
Florence Marciask as Eva Temple
Beth Bartley as Carol Cutrere
David Cataldo as Mr. Dubinsky/Ensemble
Natalie Cataldo as Little Girl/Ensemble

This production sponsored by: