Rare Williams Play 'Tokyo Hotel' Begins February 2

The White Horse Theater Company will present a limited engagement of In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel by Tennessee Williams at the The Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex (312 West 36th Street) in NYC from February 2, to February 18, 2007.

The play is directed by Co-Artistic Director Cyndy A. Marion (New York productions of Buried Child, A Lie of The Mind, etc.).  The cast includes Greg Homison, Larissa Laurel, Niall O'Hegarty, Laura Siner and Toshiji Takeshima.

"Written in 1968, during an experimental phase in Mr. Williams' career, In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel depicts the tragic demise of a famous American painter and his desperate wife. Set in a Tokyo Hotel Bar, the piece juxtaposes a deeply personal American experience against the cultural backdrop of an exotic and distinctly foreign Japan. Known for poetically realistic portraits of lost American souls in such plays as The Glass Menagerie and the Pulitzer-prize winning A Streetcar Named Desire, the playwright's In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel shocked audiences with its innovative use of language, stark minimalism, brashness of character and multi-layered symbolism," press notes state.

Seemingly a play before its time, In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel has been rarely produced since its premiere production at The Eastside Playhouse in NYC in 1969. According to critic Allean Hale, In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel was "the courageous experiment of a writer who was not afraid to take risks…No doubt some day, somewhere, some producer will meet its challenge."

Tickets are $18. Call 212-868-4444 or visit http://www.smarttix.com.  For more information on the company, visit http://www.whitehorsetheater.com