The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans (TWTC) revisits Ravenstock House, the locale of its first ever production for a thrilling and chilling revival of Kingdom of Earth by Tennessee Williams. The play follows the odyssey of Myrtle Kane, an involuntarily retired showgirl as she is lured into a battle of wills between her strange new husband Lot and his menacing half-brother Chicken. Generational curses threaten to choke every aspect of Myrtle’s misbegotten honeymoon, and an impending flood strikes terror into her heart. The play has mainstays of Williams’ writing such as struggles for inheritance, family strife, powerful sexual tension, and a unique Southern setting, but also has notes of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho in its noir eeriness and suspense.
TWTC will continue its partnerships with Loyola University New Orleans Department of Theatre Arts & Dance by staging the show at the Marquette Theatre, the company’s first production in the historic space on St. Charles Avenue.
“We are excited to be in the Marquette for the first time, especially with this show,” says director Augustin J Correro, “It was our first ever production in 2015, and we were such a small company at the time. We didn’t have a real theatre space to work with, and the lights were set up on the floors next to the audience! We are looking forward to giving it the fully staged treatment we feel it has always deserved now that we have grown in the past eight years. Even more than that, the themes of racism and personal desperation will resonate very differently today, and we are curious to see the different perspectives. These are just a few of the ways in which Kingdom 2024 will be different than Kingdom 2015.”
Loyola Alum Rebecca Elizabeth Hollingsworth leads the cast as Myrtle alongside Edward Carter Simon as Chicken and Benjamin Dougherty as Lot Ravenstock. The play is directed by Augustin J Correro, TWTC Founding Co-Artistic Director and author of Tennessee Williams 101. Lighting design is by Diane K. Baas, the scenic design is by Mina Perkins, with costumes by Hollingsworth and sound design by TWTC’s other Co-Artistic Director Nick Shackleford.
Season Eight: Desire continues TWTC’s efforts to present both well-known and rarely produced Williams plays to audiences with exciting staging innovations and locally sourced talent. This season is made possible by a grant from the New Orleans Theatre Association (NOTA). This season is produced in part by Jason and Anjali Gillette. This production of Kingdom of Earth is also made possible by generous grants from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, the New Orleans Tourism & Cultural Fund, and Threadhead Cultural Foundation.
TWTC will conclude the run of this production in collaboration with the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival.
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Shows run March 8-24, 2024. All Shows 7:30pm, except one 3pm matinee on 3/24.
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ABOUT THE TENNESSEE WILLIAMS THEATRE COMPANY OF NEW ORLEANS (TWTC):
The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans is a year-round professional 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.