Skip to main content

User account menu

  • Log in
Shopping cart 0
Cart

Search

Search
Home Press Register
  • Post
    • Post Dashboard
    • Leaderboard
    • Payment Settings
  • Home
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
    • Monthly Website Statistics
    • Our History
    • Our Staff
    • Privacy Policy
    • Rack Locations
    • Submit News
  • Most Read
    • Most Read This Week
    • Most Read This Month
    • Most Read This Year
    • Most Read All Time
  • Most Recent
  • More News
    • Crime
    • Documents
    • Videos
    • Politics
    • Public Notices
  • Sports
  • E-Editions
    • Archives
    • Newspaper E-Edition
    • Magazine
    • Special Sections
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Comments
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Submit a Letter to the Editor
  • Advertising
    • Ad Rates
    • Ad Staff
  • Calendar
  • Comics/Games
    • Cartoons
    • Crossword
    • Sudoku
  • Obituaries
    • Submit an Obituary
  • Social
    • Anniversaries/Births
    • Engagements/Weddings
    • Features
    • Schools
    • Submit an Anniversary
    • Submit a Birth
    • Submit an Engagement
    • Submit a Wedding
    • Submit School News
  • Subscribe
  • State
    • Most Read - Statewide

Domain menu for Press Register (main)

  • Post
    • Post Dashboard
    • Leaderboard
    • Payment Settings
  • Home
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
    • Monthly Website Statistics
    • Our History
    • Our Staff
    • Privacy Policy
    • Rack Locations
    • Submit News
  • Most Read
  • Most Recent
  • More News
    • Crime
    • Documents
    • Videos
    • Politics
    • Public Notices
  • Sports
  • E-Editions
    • Archives
    • Newspaper E-Edition
    • Magazine
    • Special Sections
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Comments
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Submit a Letter to the Editor
  • Advertising
  • Calendar
  • Comics/Games
  • Obituaries
    • Submit an Obituary
  • Social
    • Anniversaries/Births
    • Engagements/Weddings
    • Features
    • Schools
    • Submit an Anniversary
    • Submit a Birth
    • Submit an Engagement
    • Submit a Wedding
    • Submit School News
  • Subscribe
  • State

Tennessee Williams Festival is next week

By Special to the Press Register , READ MORE > 1,036 Reads
On Fri, 10/11/2019 - 4:47 PM

Marker to be unveiled at Cutrer Mansion Oct. 17.

The 2019 Mississippi Delta Tennessee Williams Festival (MDTWF) will launch next week with the unveiling of a Mississippi Writers Trail Marker for great American playwright, Tennessee Williams.

The ceremony for the Clarksdale marker will take place at 4 p.m. Thursday Oct. 17 at the Cutrer Mansion. The unveiling will feature remarks by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Beth Henley, of Jackson, who wrote Crimes of the Heart. It will also include a soul-stirring performance by the Coahoma Community College Choir. Scholars and dignitaries from around the state are expected to attend. The event is free and open to the public.

“We are pleased to celebrate the importance of this great American playwright, Tennessee Williams, and his Mississippi Delta roots, and we’ve been doing it now for 27 years,” said Dr. Valmadge Towner, President of Coahoma Community College. “It is amazing that this internationally known writer created some of his most memorable characters and scenes based on real people and places right here in Coahoma County. We think it is worth remembering and celebrating.”

The Mississippi Writers Trail is an initiative of the Mississippi Arts Commission, in partnership with Visit Mississippi, the Community Foundation for Mississippi, Mississippi Book Festival, Mississippi Humanities Council, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and Mississippi Library Commission. The trail will span the state and highlight notable places which helped shape some of the world’s most acclaimed authors’ lives and influenced their renowned works.

Schedule of Events

On Thursday Oct. 17 at 6 pm, the festival will host a Delta Lawn Party on the grounds of the historic Cutrer mansion. There will be live music by Terry "Big T" Williams and the Family Band, a "Taste of the Delta" dinner featuring local ethnic cuisines, and scenes from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof performed by Oxford theater artists Alice Walker and Johnny McPhail, accompanied by musician Wendy Garrison.

Friday and Saturday will be filled with performances of Williams’ scenes and historical events at site-specific locations taking place throughout downtown Clarksdale.

The theme of the Mississippi Delta Tennessee Williams Festival this year is focused on the playwright's sister Rose Williams and important women in Clarksdale's history.

On Friday, Oct. 18 events include site specific performances with the participation of visiting artists and scholars: A keynote speech by renowned Williams scholar Dr. Kenneth Holditch; Williams performer and scholar Jeremy Lawrence discussing his book on Rose Williams at the Clarksdale Woman's Club; a slide show on Clarksdale women from Williams' boyhood years who appear to be featured by Williams in his plays; a performance by visiting actors of an unpublished Williams play fragment The Front Porch Girl with special permission of Williams' estate; site-specific scene performances from Williams' play Spring Storm in Clarksdale's Carnegie Public Library where the scenes are set; a performance of Clarksdale publisher and women's suffrage activist Minnie Brewer on the steps of the former Brewer home; and a performance from Beautiful Agitators, by the theater company Storyworks: a scene in the former Illinois Central Depot waiting room between Civil Rights activists and Clarksdale residents Vera Mae Pigee and her daughter Mary Jane Pigee, played by local actors Tarra Rhymes-Slack and Aallyah Wright.

The day will conclude with a wine and cheese party at the Tennessee Williams Rectory Museum featuring new displays of letters written by Tom and Rose Williams 1920-1922 from that very rectory.

Then Saturday, Oct. 19 begins with two educational events: the Tennessee Williams scene and monologue competition for high school actors, which will be held in the George Lewis Theatre at Coahoma Community College; and new to the festival this year is a Tennessee Williams acting class for visiting college students and their professors taught by acting teacher and Williams scholar Karen Kohlhaas. Then Father Jason Shelby will speak on Williams at St. George's Episcopal Church. There will also be free visiting hours at the Tennessee Williams Rectory Museum. The Clarksdale Woman's Club, which is located right across the street from the church, will host a reception with home-made refreshments; and the afternoon will feature Porch Plays performed by local and visiting actors, culminating in Jeremy Lawrence's performance of his one man show on Tennessee and his sister Rose Williams, "My Sister Was Quicker at Everything Than I". The festival will conclude with an after-party at Ground Zero Blues Club.

All Friday and Saturday performances, museum hours, and scholar's events are free and open to the public. There is a charge for the Delta Lawn Party which includesd dinner and music on Thursday October 17 and a cash bar at the Ground Zero after-party.

For a complete, regularly updated schedule of events and Delta Lawn Party tickets please visit www.DeltaWilliamsFestival.com

The festival is sponsored by Coahoma Community College, the Mississippi Arts Commission, the Mississippi Humanities Council, Visit Clarksdale and Clarksdale Revitalization.

‹ PreviousNext ›

Most Recent

Treasurer McRae Awards $6,000 in Scholarships

12 Mississippi students take home scholarships from the 2021 College Savings MS Shootout

Former director of Newton veterans cemetery indicted
Former direct of Newton veterans cemetery indicted
GUNN: Ole Miss Economists Give Positive Review of House Tax Reform Plan
EC Cosby
Minnie B. Harris

Most Read

  • Week
  • Month
  • Year
  • All Time

Superintendent Joe Nelson gets contract extension

Clarksdale Municipal School District superintendent Dr. Earl Joe Nelson received a $4,000 pay raise… READ MORE

Why teachers in Mississippi work second jobs to get by
CCC Lady Tigers extend winning streak to four games
Mary Malone
Candidates warned about signs on street right of way
EDITORIAL: Raise your hand and volunteer

Clarksdale is warming up from winter storm

The Storm of '21 is over and Clarksdale is thawing out from a week of snow and ice and weather that… READ MORE

Supervisor and Sheriff square off at meeting
Ty James joins office of Commissioner Brandon Presley
Bolivar County Sheriff Seeks Public's Help in Locating Missing 19-year-old Male
Authorities investigate death at CCC
CCC Lady Tigers upset undefeated ICC, 79-77

Richard Ira Gates

Richard Ira Gates, 60, Clarksdale died March 17, 2020 at his residence. Public viewing is from 2 to… READ MORE

Unkept property, litter and trash, trash, trash
Lee soccer falls to Magnolia Heights
Mississippi COVID-19 curve moving down
Flag commission narrow design to two finalists
Chamber delivers cookies to hospital

Richard Ira Gates

Richard Ira Gates, 60, Clarksdale died March 17, 2020 at his residence. Public viewing is from 2 to… READ MORE

Unkept property, litter and trash, trash, trash
Lee soccer falls to Magnolia Heights
Mississippi COVID-19 curve moving down
Flag commission narrow design to two finalists
Chamber delivers cookies to hospital

Sign Up for Notifications of Local Breaking News

Start E-mail NotificationsStop E-mail NotificationsStart Mobile NotificationsStop Mobile Notifications

Obituaries

EC Cosby

EC Cosby, 92, of Jonestown died March 3, 2021 at  Delta Health Northwest Regional in Clarksdale.… READ MORE

Minnie B. Harris
Susie F. Walker
Napoleon Anthony Giles
Roosevelt Ramsey
Mary Malone

Social

Treasurer McRae Awards $6,000 in Scholarships

12 Mississippi students take home scholarships from the 2021 College Savings MS Shootout

EC Cosby
Minnie B. Harris
Susie F. Walker
Napoleon Anthony Giles
Roosevelt Ramsey

Opinion:

Marshall Ramsey: March Madness

BOBBY HARRISON: If Senate gets its way, ballyhooed special session plan will be erased
Editorial: Jobs incentive reform
EDITORIAL: Raise your hand and volunteer
Wicker Rejects Effort to Weaken Election Integrity
Wicker Rejects Effort to Weaken Election Integrity

Weddings & Engagement

WEDDING: Hays, Zachary exchange vows

The double-ring ceremony of Anna Catherine Hays and Tyler Jordan Zachary was Saturday, September 19… READ MORE

WEDDING: Ashcraft / Dominguez
WEDDING: Debruler / Agostinelli
WEDDING: Hays/Zachary
Weiland / Bosarge engagement announced
ENGAGEMENT: Rodgers/Masterson

News

Treasurer McRae Awards $6,000 in Scholarships

12 Mississippi students take home scholarships from the 2021 College Savings MS Shootout

Former director of Newton veterans cemetery indicted
Former direct of Newton veterans cemetery indicted
GUNN: Ole Miss Economists Give Positive Review of House Tax Reform Plan
EC Cosby
Minnie B. Harris

Sports

RICK CLEVELAND: It just means more in New Site, where hoops is a way of life

New Site, an unincorporated community in the far, northeast corner of Mississippi, was settled in… READ MORE

Have you ever hunted turkey?
CCC Lady Tigers extend winning streak to four games
JOSH TROY: Support County all the way to Jackson
Lee Academy wins 1-of-3 in Starkville
Ole Miss shoots — literally — for state’s first Division I team national crown

Special Sections & Magazines

COMPANY COMMUNITY ADVERTISE E-EDITIONS MORE NEWS
Contact Community Calendar Subscribe Newspaper Archive Cartoons
FAQ/Help Obituaries Ad Rates Newspaper E-Edition Columns
Our History Engagements/Weddings Ad Staff Special Section Editorials
Our Staff Most Read My Account   Politics
Statewide Most Recent Rack Locations    

Click on the city name to visit its website.

ACKERMAN  •  CARROLLTON  •  CHARLESTON  •  CLARKSDALE  •  COLUMBIA  •  DUMAS(Ark.)  •  EUPORA  •  FOREST  • 

FRANKLINTON(La.)  • GREENVILLE  •  GREENWOOD  •  GRENADA  •  HATTIESBURG  •  JACKSON  •  KOSCIUSKO  •  INDIANOLA  • 

LOUISVILLE  • MAGEE  • MENDENHALL  •  McCOMB  •  NEWTON  •  PETAL  •  QUITMAN  •  SENATOBIA  •  TALLULAH(La.)  •  WINONA  •  YAZOO CITY


Copyright 2020 - The Clarksdale Press Register | Privacy Statement | Help | Terms of Service

The Clarksdale Press Register - 123 Second Street - Clarksdale, MS 38614 - (662)-627-2201

Emmerich Newspapers proud to serve your local communities.

Thank you for visiting our website.