Tennessee Williams aficionados will have the chance to view one of his lesser-known works in a rare Los Angeles production this summer. Michael Arabian (Waiting for Godot) directs Susan Priver, Brian Burke and Daniel Felix de Weldon in Kingdom of Earth, a darkly comic psychodrama set to openJuly 15 as a guest production, presented by Dance On Productions in association with Linda Toliverand Gary Guidinger, at the Odyssey Theatre. BroadwayWorld has an inside look at the rare production below! Check it out!
Kingdom of Earth is the savage, sexy and brutally funny story of three outcasts trapped in an isolated and dilapidated Mississippi farmhouse by an encroaching flood. Dying from tuberculosis and obsessed with memories of his late mother, "mama's boy" Lot has returned home with his wife of 24 hours, the aging, down-on-her-luck showgirl, Myrtle. But Lot's return fuels a longstanding feud with his biracial half-brother, Chicken, over the ownership of the family estate. As the flood waters rise, Myrtle, at once frightened of and fascinated by the macho Chicken, is caught between his kitchen lair and the upstairs bedroom, where her new husband is fighting for breath and losing his tenuous hold on reality.
"The metaphorical and taboo motifs of race, gender and human survival in this play are surprisingly current," says Arabian. "Williams is never dated because his themes are so universal."
Williams' most deeply felt emotions are fully realized in this rich and comical take on the loneliness of life. "What does anyone know about the Kingdom of Heaven? It's Earth I'm after." Originally a short story, Williams converted it to a play during his "dark decade." The play, at that time called The Seven Descents of Myrtle, premiered on Broadway in 1968 with
Estelle Parsons, Harry Guardini and
BrIan Bedford, directed by
Jose Quintero, and Parsons received a Tony nomination for her performance as Myrtle. Williams later revised the script, and it was produced again in 1975 in Princeton, New Jersey under the new title Kingdom of Earth. The New York Daily News called it "one of [Williams'] best, which is high praise for any play," and the New York Post wrote, "contains some of the distinguished dramatist's most probing and compassionate reflections on lost souls of this sad world."
Scenic design for Kingdom of Earth is by
John Iacovelli; lighting design is by Bill E. Kickbush; sound design is byJohn Nobori; costume design is by
Shon LeBlanc; graphic design is by
Doug Haverty; and casting is by
Michael Donovan, CSA. The production stage manager is Jennifer Palumbo, and Dance On Productions produces in association with Linda Toliver and Gary Guidinger.
Performances of Kingdom of Earth take place Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.,July 15 through Aug. 14. There will be two preview performances on Wednesday, July 13 and Thursday, July 14, both at 8 p.m. All tickets are $30 (reserved seating); rush tickets are available for $15 one hour before curtain, at the door (subject to availability). The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles, 90025. For reservations and information, call (310) 477-2055 x 2 or go to
OdysseyTheatre.com.
Photo Credit: Michael Lamont
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