One of New Orleans's Most Formidable Onstage Forces Will Join TWTC in THE MILK TRAIN DOESN'T STOP HERE ANYMORE

The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans will present The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore by Tennessee Williams, starring Janet Shea at the Sanctuary Cultural Arts Center from March 23-April 2. This will be TWTC's second collaboration with the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival.

"Janet Shea's talent is a New Orleans treasure. Her skill at weaving her own magical mystique into fury, humor, and tenderness is such an asset to this challenging and powerful play," says TWTC Co-Artistic Director Augustin J Correro, "Janet as Sissy Goforth was a no-brainer."

The play centers around Flora "Sissy" Goforth, a tenacious actress who stands atop the heap of bodies of those whom she's outlived. Her symbol is a Griffin-majestic but with deadly claws. As the narrators of this "sophisticated fairy tale" will tell you at the outset of the action, however, Sissy's days are numbered...to two. In the final days of her life, Sissy must come to grips with her own mortality while still asserting power over her employees and her life story. She is visited by her frenemy, the Witch of Capri: a vampire who comes to get in some last licks. To make letting go infinitely harder, a young man comes uphill to Sissy's cliffside estate; could he bring tidings of love? She may never know.

"This isn't a traditional play" says Nick Shackleford, TWTC Co-Artistic Director, "Williams' main aim was to put Flora under the microscope and show his findings to the audience. The action of the play is aided by Kabuki-style stage assistants who dispense with the traditional theatrical form and help to heighten and showcase the struggle that Flora has. We couldn't do it with an actress without Janet Shea's brilliance."

Janet Shea will be flanked by TWTC veterans Julie Dietz and Linnea Gregg (both having appeared in The Rose Tattoo), alongside Kyle Daigrepont (The Normal Heart, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and Levi Hood (Clown Bar, Two Gentlemen of Verona).

This is a two-week engagement sure to leave each audience breathless.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.twtheatrenola.com or by calling (504)-264-2580, and are $25 for General Admission and $20 for students and seniors. Ticketing for the first weekend will be handled by the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival: www.tennesseewilliams.net

More about TWTC and The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore can be found at www.twtheatrenola.com or by calling (504)-264-2580

ABOUT THE Tennessee Williams THEATRE COMPANY OF NEW ORLEANS (TWTC):

The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans is a year-round theatre company committed to producing captivating, exciting, and moving plays with a major focus on the works of America's greatest playwright, Tennessee Williams. In the city which Williams called home and from which he drew abundant inspiration, The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans will engage our community and cultivate its relationship with Williams. We will accomplish this by mounting performances of well-known and rarely producEd Williams plays, contributing to the scholarship of Williams and New Orleans, and educating our community onstage and off with unique and stimulating programming.

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