The 16th Annual Mississippi Delta
Tennessee Williams Festival, sponsored by Coahoma Community College, will be held
Sept. 26-27, 2008.
Actor Morgan Freeman to narrate BBC documentary of 2008 Williams Festival
CLARKSDALE - The 16th annual Mississippi Delta Tennessee Williams Festival has been selected for a BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Radio 2 documentary narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman, and promises to be a greatly expanded showcase of the arts and the cultural heritage of the Mississippi Delta, according to festival executive committee members.
Dates are September 26-27, 2008.
With an audience ranging from 13 to 17 million in the United Kingdom and the Internet, the BBC program will focus on the links between Tennessee Williams and Clarksdale, its influences on his works and today’s generation of young writers and actors.
Legendary characters from his famous Delta plays: Big Daddy, Brick, and Maggie from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Amanda Wingfield from The Glass Menagerie; Blanche Dubois and Stella from A Streetcar Named Desire; and Val Xavier with his blues guitar and snake-skin jacket from Orpheus Descending will dominate live drama presentations of front porch plays and theatre center stages.
"This festival is fantastic; we have always liked the idea of telling his (Williams) story, of giving people an understanding of how important and relevant his works remains today, " comments BBC producer Carmel Lonergan who traveled to Clarksdale in mid-February to initiate arrangements.
"Tenneesee Williams touches people," she continued. "It’s powerful storytelling – more powerful than walking into a cathedral."
Lonergan says her recent trip to Clarksdale "raised the roof" on her expectations.
"I knew I was going to love it, but I did not know I would fall in love; it felt like coming home," she continued.
Commenting on the personalities she met here including educators and artists to waitresses and elegant Southern beauties, Lonergan says "all are natural storytellers."
"Clarksdale does not know what it’s got; it takes an outsider to see this," she said.
The 2007 Williams festival so evoked successful reviews from visiting travel writers from Great Britain as well as visitors from London that it reached the ears of BBC decision-makers, says Susan Moser, one of the UK participants.
In a letter to festival organizers, Moser praises the festival for "meeting interesting and knowledgeable people in such an informal setting."
"Being able to wander from porch to porch for performances was like nothing I had ever experienced and will certainly never forget. I was so impressed how the town encourages performances from their children, creating a love of the theatre and a pride in Williams."
"The Deep South had all the magic I hoped it would. Of all the places we have visited in the States, and we have traveled quite extensively, this held for me, the most charm and friendliest of people," she continued.
She writes that they would love to live in America, but would miss the excellence of BBC programs that are "second to none."
If the BBC wants to do a program on the Tennessee Williams Festival, she says, "well, it doesn’t get much better."
"Just be ready for the positive outcome," she says. "Open your doors to all the visitors and get the grits on the stove."
The festival will expand live theatre presentations with performances by actors from Broadway, regional and
local theatres, and will continue to host a literary conference, workshops for teachers and student actors, and a drama competitionwith prizes totaling $2,500 for winners.
The festival, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by Coahoma Community College and funded by grants from the college, the Mississippi Arts Commission, the Mississippi Humanities Council, the Rock River Foundation, the Isle of Capri Casino, and local businesses and individuals.
For more information, contact Panny Mayfield,
662-621-4157 or pmayfield@coahomacc.edu
Tennessee Williams Fest Praised as ‘Best Ever’.
Click here for photos.
|
