The Two-Character Play debuted in 1967 in London, and was produced on Broadway in 1973 by
David Merrick, under the title Out Cry, starring
Michael York. Considered too experimental for its time, Williams continued working on the play and published his final version in
The Theatre of Tennessee Williams Volume 5. After years of withholding rights, Williams' estate granted permission for
Gene David Kirk to present the play at London's Jermyn Street Theatre where he served as Artistic Director. Mr. Kirk was introduced to the play by his mentor
Corin Redgrave, whose sister Vanessa had long desired it as a personal vehicle. Mr. Kirk found the play "absolutely delicious," calling it "a brilliant device exposing the entrapment of humanity itself."
Opening in October 2010, the play earned the critical success that had eluded it years earlier, and found its enthusiastic and appreciative audience in the 21st century. The production was heralded as "revelatory," and the play was lauded as a "lost classic."
Mr. Kirk dedicates this production of
The Two-Character Play to the memory of Mr. Redgrave.