27 wagons full of cotton and other plays

Meryl Streep received her only Tony Award nomination so far for the last major revival of 27 Wagons Full of Cotton in 1976 which was at that time paired with Arthur Miller’s A Memory of Two Mondays.

In 1977, Williams adapted his screenplay as a stage play called Tiger Tail (the name of the town where it takes place) and it made its New York debut briefly in the summer of 1999 at the Clurman Theatre. Probably Williams’ most well-known short play, it was used as the basis for the controversial 1956 film, Baby Doll, the only original Williams screenplay filmed in his lifetime. 27 Wagons Full of Cotton was the title play of Williams’ first published collection of one acts in 1945. Like many Williams one acts, both of these plays were later expanded into full length works. More’s the pity as one cast is far more accomplished than the other. However, Marilyn Fried who directed 2 by Tennessee Williams: 27 Wagons Full of Cotton & Kingdom of Earth unaccountably chose to have the women played by different actresses. (Both of them are the closest Williams came to that other Mississippi writer, William Faulkner.) The obvious idea would have been to double cast both plays making this a tour de force for all three actors. They're certainly worth reading if only to Williams enthusiasts, of whom I include myself.Victor Gluck, Editor-in-ChiefWhy did no one think of it before? Two Tennessee Williams’ one acts set in Mississippi with two men and one woman on the same bill. The playwright was prolific, but one suspects he only sketched-in some of these works thinking he might later cobble together a couple or more and turn them into a three act work or two. There is a bizarre one based on Williams's lifelong fascination with the poet Hart Crane, titled 'Steps Must Be Gentle.' Williams was at his best when dealing with full-length material, from 'The Glass Menagerie' to 'Night of the Iguana,' with the magnificient 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' and especially 'Streetcar Named Desire' as greatest examples of the genre he invented single-handedly: poetic realism.

Only one organization I know of has mounted most of these short plays in a series, last spring as I recall. Tennessee Williams at his worst is better than no Williams at all, and this collection of one acts, including the longish one-act that eventually became the movie, 'Baby Doll,' is worth having and reading.

27 wagons full of cotton and other plays