Annual celebration, a Pulitzer Centennial event, scheduled Sept. 30-Oct. 1
CLARKSDALE- Although A Streetcar Named Desire, the classic Tennessee Williams drama,
is set in New Orleans, its ties to Clarksdale and the Mississippi Delta are unmistakable,
agree scholars booked for the 24th Williams Festival here Sept. 30-Oct. 1.
Sponsored by Coahoma Community College, the festival is a Pulitzer Centennial event
and will feature scenes from Streetcar as its centerpiece, according to Marilyn Starks,
project director.
Staging the drama inside the Cutrer Mansion – a setting regarded by many as Streetcar’s Belle
Reve, the lost ancestral home of Blanche DuBois - will be the Matt Foss Theatre actors.
The group earned standing ovations here in 2015 for its innovative performance of The
Glass Menagerie and applause ALSO followed them later in the Kennedy Center and the
Moscow Art Theatre in Russia.
Beneath paper lanterns reminiscent of the lavish Delta parties and masked balls hosted
by J. W. and Blanche Clark Cutrer, guests are encouraged to come as their favorite
Tennessee Williams characters.
Blues guitarist Dave Dunavant will provide music before the drama.
As a Pulitzer presentation, the Friday night drama will be introduced by Dr. Kenneth
Holditch, who delivered the keynote address at the Tennessee Williams portrait unveiling
in Mississippi’s Hall of Fame ceremony in April, and Dr. Stuart Rockoff, executive
director of the Mississippi Humanities Council, Pulitzer Centennial sponsor in Mississippi.
The production is being funded in part by MHC and also the Mississippi Arts Commission.
Opening earlier Friday morning in Coahoma Community College’s Whiteside Lecture Hall
with a welcome by Dr. Valmadge Towner, CCC president and music by the college’s Concert
Choir, the literary conference offers a taste of Streetcar from the Matt Foss Theatre
actors.
Afterward Starks guarantees three panels of Tennessee Williams specialists will evoke
excitement, dialogue, questions and even arguments from the audience.
Tennessee’s heroines will be dissected by a trio including Ann Fisher-Wirth, English
professor/poet; Karen Kohlhaas, filmmaker/theatre professional; and Susan McPhail,
actor/director.
A Master Scholar critique of Tennessee’s two Pulitzer Prize winners: Streetcar and Cat will
feature scholars Kenneth Holditch, Colby Kullman, and Ralph Voss.
A final panel pinpointing Mississippi Delta’s influences on Tennessee will include
Coop Cooper, journalist/filmmaker/critic; Kenneth Holditch and Colby Kullman, scholars;
and Karen Kohlhaas, filmmaker/theatre professional.
The festival offers registered educators continuing education credits (CEDs).
Saturday’s agenda opens and stars the highly competitive and elite student drama contest
in the Georgia Lewis Theatre. It is open to the public. Afterward students and drama
coaches will be treated to a hot luncheon prepared by CCC Chef Brennon Warr and his
culinary students. Visitors with reservations ($10) are invited to join the celebration.
The festival moves downtown to Clarksdale’s historic district for a welcome to St.
George’s Episcopal Church by the Rev. Jason Shelby. It will be followed by tours of
the former rectory being renovated in a recreation of the period when Dakin and Williams
families lived there. It also will include festival memorabilia from 24 years.
Across the street, the Clarksdale Woman’s Club – one of the city’s oldest community
organizations – will host an open house offering refreshments and a place to relax
between porch plays in the adjoining historic district.
From 3 – 5 p.m. audiences will be seated in lawn chairs before turn-of-the-century
homes to enjoy four porch play performances of Tennessee Williams plays. Informal
interactions between actors and fans are expected to follow each drama.
On stage will be theatre veterans/festival favorites: Alice Walker, Susan and Johnny
McPhail from Oxford; Sherrye Williams and Jim Schnalebach from Clarksdale; the Matt
Foss Theatre group; and a top student cast representing the festival’s drama competition.
The festival is free and open to all with the exception of food events that require
advance reservations. Friday night’s Grande Reception/Buffet ($25) is catered by The
Dutch Oven, andSaturday’s luncheon ($10) at CCC. For reservations, contact Coahoma
Tourism, P.O. 1770, Clarksdale, MS 38614 or telephone: 662-627-6149.
Inaugurated in 1993 by CCC President Vivian Presley through a grant from the National
Endowment for the Arts, the festival has been honored with MHC’s Partner Award and
documented by the BBC and European Public Television.
The festival is supported by grants from CCC, MHC, MAC, Visit Mississippi, Visit Clarksdale,
local businesses, organizations and individual patrons.
Other partners include the Chamber of Commerce, Coahoma County Higher Education Center,
Delta Blues Museum, St. George’s Episcopal Church, the Sunflower River Blues Association,
Carnegie Public Library, and the City of Clarksdale.