Events Calendar

Bent to the Flame: A Night with Tennessee Williams

Admission is free. Reservations required. To RSVP, click on the links below beginning Thursday, August 25, at 9 a.m.

Ticket Reservations:

Friday, September 16, 7:30 p.m.
USC Students, Staff and Faculty: To RSVP, click here: http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/visionsandvoices/RSVP/reserve.php?RSVPEvtCode=177
General Public: To RSVP, click here: http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/visionsandvoices/RSVP/reserveGeneral_Multi.php?RSVPEvtCode=177

Saturday, September 17, 7:30 p.m.
USC Students, Staff and Faculty: To RSVP, click here: http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/visionsandvoices/RSVP/reserve.php?RSVPEvtCode=178
General Public: To RSVP, click here: http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/visionsandvoices/RSVP/reserveGeneral_Multi.php?RSVPEvtCode=178

Reception to follow both shows.

“Mesmerizing . . . riotously funny . . . a remarkable piece of theater.”—nytheatre.com

“Tompos comes so close to Williams’s essence that it is nothing short of astounding.”—TheatreMania.com

A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Glass Menagerie—from 1934 to his death in 1983, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of these iconic plays, Tennessee Williams, carried on a “love affair” with a man he’d never met, American poet Hart Crane, who had committed suicide years before Williams discovered his work. Nevertheless, Williams’s devotion to Crane and his poetry shaped his work and personal life in ways that inspired and yet nearly destroyed him.

Based on events described in Williams’s essay “The Catastrophe of Success,” Bent to the Flame uses Crane’s poetry and Williams’s personal anecdotes and comments on the work to explore the nature of creativity and the congeniality between these two great artists. A provocative, humorous and inspiring portrait, Bent to the Flame offers a deeper revelation of both men’s lives as the playwright dares to bend to the creative flame.

Named Outstanding Solo Show at the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival, Bent to the Flame has been performed around the country, including special productions at the 23rd Annual Tennessee Williams Literary Festival in New Orleans, the 5th Annual Tennessee Williams Theatre Festival in Provincetown, MA, and, most recently, the Tennessee Williams Centennial Festival in Washington, D.C.

Following the performance, Brian Parsons, head of undergraduate acting at USC, will lead a Q&A with writer/performer Doug Tompos, director Michael Michetti and esteemed USC professors Brighde Mullins and David Roman.

To see excerpts from Bent to the Flame, go to http://www.dougtompos.com/media/bent.mov.

Organized by Brian Parsons and Doug Tompos (Theatre).

For further information on this event:
visionsandvoices@usc.edu

Location: 24th Street Theatre, 1117 West 24th Street, Los Angeles

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Daria Yudacufski