MS Delta Tennessee Williams Festival

Established in 1993 with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the MS Delta Tennessee Williams Festival will celebrate its 32nd year highlighting the life and works of the great American playwright, Tennessee Williams, while focusing on his roots in the Mississippi Delta and how Clarksdale and Coahoma County influenced him and his work over the years.

This 3-day literary festival has become a jewel in our Delta community. For the 2024 festival, we plan to focus on the “apprentice” play Spring Storm. Williams wrote this play, set in the fictional town of Port Tyler, Mississippi, in 1937-1938 while finishing his undergraduate degree in the theater department at the University of Iowa. The play is about the unrequited love of four young people in a small Delta town near the Mississippi River which closely resembles Clarksdale—the play features local landmarks in Coahoma County such as Moon Lake, Friar’s Point, the Carnegie Public Library and St. George’s Episcopal Church. It is filled with character types and story elements that Williams would develop in several of his later plays.

We have invited seven scholars to offer presentations and participate throughout the festival.

The festival will also feature a performance of Spring Storm by the Tennessee Williams Theater Company of New Orleans, directed by Salvatore Mannino. You can see the schedule below that shows all of the public programming that we are planning thus far. It’s going to be another great festival!

Overview:  Art Exhibit & Opening Lunch at the Cutrer Mansion — Tour of Clarksdale highlighting Tennessee Williams sites — Delta Dinner Party at the Moon Lake Casino

11:00 AM Opening Lunch at the Cutrer Mansion | Well, We All Have to Paint Our Nudes!

Unveiling of original artwork by celebrated New Orleans artist, George Dureau (1930 – 2014) to be donated to the Cutrer Mansion by Erma Duricko in honor of Dr. Kenneth Holditch (1933 – 2022); View Tennessee Williams Artwork Exhibited at the Cutrer Mansion in partnership with Rhodes College and hear art presentations by students from Rhodes College

1:00 PM Tennessee Williams Rectory Museum and St. George’s Episcopal Church open for tours

2:30 PM Tennessee Williams in Clarksdale Tour | Developed by Karen Kohlhaas of the Tennessee Williams Rectory Museum

This unique and exciting tour (on bus and by personal car) lasts approximately two hours and includes locations in Clarksdale and Coahoma County that are featured in the plays of Tennessee Williams. Along the way, actors and other participants will read and perform monologues and scenes set in some of the locations. Several locations are settings in our featured play, Spring Storm.

We will begin at the Tennessee Williams Rectory Museum, in the former rectory of St. George’s Episcopal church, where Williams lived with his grandparents.

The rectory itself is a setting in Williams’ plays, SUMMER AND SMOKE, and THE ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE.

Additional tour locations include:

• The Cutrer Mansion a.k.a. Belvoir (A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE)

• Mercantile Store (Collective Seed and Supply) (ORPHEUS DESCENDING)

• Carnegie Public Library (SPRING STORM)

• Grange Cemetery: Cutrer graves (STREETCAR, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, ORPHEUS DESCENDING); Angel Statue (SUMMER AND SMOKE); Mrs. Wingfield’s grave (THE GLASS MENAGERIE); as well as character names from other Clarksdale residents such as Gilliam, Baugh, Anderson

• The former Wingfield home (THE GLASS MENAGERIE)

• Clarksdale’s Historic District including houses Williams played in as a child (Phil Clark’s house, Gilliam’s house, Baby Doll and Eddie Peacock’s House)

• The Paramount Theater (formerly the New Marion) where Williams first went to the movies with his grandfather—in his plays and stories he calls it the Delta Brilliant (ORPHEUS DESCENDING)

• The Riverside Hotel, site of the death of Blues legend Bessie Smith (ORPHEUS DESCENDING)

• Along the way, pointing out local Blues and other history: locations such as the New World where ‘The Father of the Blues’, W.C. Handy, lived and played (Williams mentions him in short stories) Also, the depot where Charlie Chaplin spoke during WWI, and where Williams left for St. Louis and Muddy Waters left for Chicago. And, the site of the former theater where Sarah Bernhardt performed twice in Clarksdale, including the same month that Williams’ grandfather first began services at St. George’s.

• The former freight yards in front of what is now the Delta Blues Museum, where the character Hertha commits suicide (SPRING STORM)

• Friar’s Point by the Mississippi River (THE LAST OF MY SOLID GOLD WATCHES, SPRING STORM)

• Moon Lake (All of the Delta Plays)

5:00 PM Dinner & Dancing at the Moon Lake Casino | Uncle Henry’s Place, 5860 Moon Lake Road, Dundee, MS 38626

Overview: Scholar Talks all day — At Coahoma Community College (9 am to 12 noon) Then at Carnegie Public Library in downtown Clarksdale (1:30 PM to 5:30 PM)

9:15 AM Presentation I Tennessee Williams 101  By Augustin Correro (confirmed)

10:15 AM Presentation I History and Analysis of the play, Spring Storm By Thomas Keith (invited, depends on his schedule in the fall)

11:15 AM In Conversation with actors, Terrance Howard and Debbie Allen (Connecting) — Interviewed by Ralph Eubanks (confirmed)

2:00 PM Presentation I The Writing of Spring Storm By Karen Kohlhaas (confirmed)

3:00 PM Performance I Site Specific Scene from Spring Storm

The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans

4:00 PM Book Talk I Searching for My Father, His First Wife, and Tennessee Williams Presented by author Melanie McCabe (confirmed)

6:00 PM In Conversation with actor, Austin Pendleton (confirmed)

Interviewed by Karen KohlhaasHome of Eva Connell, Ridge Road, Clarksdale

Overview: Student Drama Competition and Porch Plays

9:00 AM Student Drama Competition | Produced by StoryWorks — Sponsored by Coahoma Community College

• A festival favorite, the Student Drama Competition highlights students from around the region who will perform monologues, scenes and Stella calls competing for the opportunity to win trophies and $2,500 in award money for their school programs.

1:00 PM – 2:30 PM Woman’s Club & Tennessee Williams Rectory Museum Open to Visitors

2:30 pm Organ Concert at St. George’s Church with the Rev. Charlie Deaton

3:00 PM – 6:00 PM Porch Plays in the Historic District

• 415 Court Street | 3:00 pm

• 203 Court Street | 3:30 pm

• 235 Clark Street | 4:00 pm

• 41 John Street    | 4:00 pm  Spring Storm  Presented by The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans

6:00 PM After-Party – Possibly the Porch of the Clark House or the front lawn of the Cutrer Mansion