Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– The Illinois Theatre Center of Park Forest ushers in the spring with SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER by Tennessee Williams. This psychological drama by one of America’s greatest playwrights runs March 21 through April 6.
SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER tells an intriguing tale. A young woman, who witnessed her cousin’s shocking death, is brought into a New Orleans garden to confront a family intent on getting her to deny the lurid tale. The New York Times hailed the play as “Startling proof of what a man can do with words… a superb achievement.”.
Born in 1911, in Columbus, Mississippi, Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams was amply prepared for writing about society¹s outcasts. His mother was obsessed by her fantasies of genteel Southern living. His father, a traveling salesman, was at turns distant and abusive. His older sister was emotionally disturbed, spending most of her life in mental institutions. He remained aloof from his younger brother, whom his father favored.
William’s first hit play, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, premiered in Chicago in 1944, and on Broadway the following year. Success continued with A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, SUMMER AND SMOKE, THE ROSE TATTOO, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER, SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, and NIGHT OF THE IGUANA. His output in the 1960’s and 70’s consisted mostly of avant-garde works that played Off-Broadway. Williams died in 1983.
The Illinois Theatre Center production of SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER is directed by David Boettcher, who has been featured onstage in such ITC productions as CANDIDA, BY JEEVES and TALE OF THE ALLERGISTS’S WIFE, and directed last summer’s production of URINETOWN. The cast features ITC veterans Peter Robel, Etel Billig, Chris Blumer and Zack Clark, along with newcomers Katrina Kuntz, Hayley L. Rice and Jeanne Scurek.
SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER runs Friday, March 21 through Sunday, April 6. Performances are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, and Sundays at 2:30 & 7:30 PM. Tickets are priced at $21 on Fri. & Sat., $19 all other times. There is a $1 discount for seniors & students. The Illinois Theatre Center is located at 371 Artists Walk in Downtown Park Forest (off Indianwood Blvd., adjacent to Village Hall). For tickets, call (708) 481-3510.
