DESIRE based on short stories by Tennessee Williams

Six one-act plays by Elizabeth Egloff, Marcus Gardley, Rebecca Gilman, David Grimm, John Guare, and Beth Henley ATTACK OF THE GIANT TENT WORMS by Elizabeth Egloff (1m, 1f): Billy and Clara are nearing the end of their summer vacation on Cape Cod, as their cottage is being devoured by billions of tent-worms. Worse, Billy has just gotten word from his oncologist that there are no more treatment options for his brain cancer. A darkly humorous exploration of which is more terrifying: bugs or death? DESIRE QUENCHED BY TOUCH by Marcus Gardley (3m): In 1950s New Orleans, a black masseur must account for the disappearance of his favorite white customer. People don't just vanish inside massage parlors... THE FIELD OF BLUE CHILDREN by Rebecca Gilman (3m, 4f): Everything in Layley's life is going according to plan. She belongs to the best sorority at her university and has a devoted boyfriend who could easily become a devoted husband. But Layley suspects that there is more to life than stifling conformity. So she signs up for a poetry class in the hopes of expressing herself. There she meets Dylan, a sensitive poet with whom she enjoys a night of passion that opens up a truly revolutionary prospect: living a life of her own. ORIFLAMME by David Grimm (1m, 1f): Oriflamme (noun): A red or scarlet banner; a knight's standard; a rallying principle... Sickly Anna Kimball, on her final day, reaches out for, and becomes, all of these. YOU LIED TO ME ABOUT CENTRALIA by John Guare (1m, 1f): Jim, The Gentleman Caller, leaves the Wingfields' disastrous dinner party to meet his fiancée Betty's train. The evening won't turn out the way either of them expected. THE RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN A VIOLIN CASE AND A COFFIN by Beth Henley (2m, 4f): Tom and his sister Roe's childhood comes to a painful end when Richard Miles, who moves in light, arrives in town with his violin in a case. "...You can hear Tennessee Williams's dramatis personae echoing through this evening of one-acts..." --The New Yorker "[Desire] is rife with agonized sexual longing, trembling Southern belles and spasms of violence. ...Most American playwrights working today owe some debt to Williams; it's a pleasure, even inspiring, to see six give back." --Time Out New York