Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis Postponed

ST. LOUIS - March 17, 2020 - PRLog -- After careful deliberation, the multi-award-winning Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis (TWSTL) finds it necessary to push their 5th Annual event to summer due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

"Our first commitment is to keeping the company and community safe. The show WILL go on. We will be announcing new dates shortly. IN THE MEANTIME, LOVE DEEPLY, BE KIND, EAT, DRINK, BE MERRY AND SMELL ROSES! LOTS AND LOTS OF ROSES!!!" Carrie Houk, Executive Artistic Director TWSTL.

The theme of the 2020 Festival is "Tennessee Williams & Italy." Williams frequently traveled to Italy, recalling in his Memoirs: "As soon as I crossed the Italian border, my health and my life seemed to be magically restored. There was the sun and there were the smiling Italians." He wrote to his grandfather, "It is difficult to tear myself away from Italy which is the nearest to heaven that I have ever been, the people so friendly, gentle and gracious and the days so tranquil and sunny."

In that spirit the Festival will mount a stunning production of Williams' Tony award-winning masterpiece The Rose Tattoo, set in a resilient community of Sicilian immigrants on the Gulf Coast near New Orleans.

Houk has consulted extensively with St. Louis' Italian-American community to ensure their engagement and to provide authenticity.

Other Festival highlights will include:

• A new collection of Williams' one-act plays, The St. Louis Rooming House Plays, will provide an immersive experience in Grand Center's historic Stockton House.
• An academic series, "Tennessee Williams and his Midwest Experiences," will bring noted scholars and historians from around the world to discuss how Williams' life in the Midwest influenced his later life and his works.
• A variety of special events including: Tennessee Williams Bus Tour; La Dolce Vita Pool Party; a staged reading of Glass; Amor Perdido, composed of Williams works that are new to the stage; screenings of Italian-themed The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone and Boom; "TW Jam"; "Tennessee Williams Tribute" at Guido's on The Hill; the "Williams Playwriting Initiative;" panels, parties, conversation, and much more.

Lead sponsorship of the festival is provided by Emerson.  The Festival is also funded in part by Mary Strauss, Ken and Nancy Kranzberg, The Whitaker Foundation, Regional Arts Commission, the Missouri Arts Council, Missouri Humanities Council, Trio Foundation of St Louis and the Arts and Education Council.

More information and updates on the Festival can be found at https://www.twstl.org/. For media inquiries, please contact Marla Stoker Ballenger at marla@marqueemediastl.com or at (314)-973-5525.