Light the candles and blow up the balloons! 
Because now through the end of March, Key West celebrates the birthday of internationally acclaimed playwright, Tennessee Williams.
Born in 1911, Williams bought a modest Key West cottage in the late forties which he called home until his untimely death in 1983. During those years, he won multiple honors for his work including his second Pulitzer for the play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a Tony for The Rose Tattoo, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his literary achievements.
In honor of the 110th anniversary of Williams’ March 26, 1911, birth, Key West is popping the cork with all kinds of fun events including film screenings, prose and poetry contests and an online program of readings and reminiscences.
In addition, private tours of Key West’s Tennessee Williams Museum, located at 513 Truman Ave will be offered to masked patrons by appointment. Exhibits include personal photographs, rare memorabilia, video footage, a scale model of Williams’ Key West home, one of his typewriters and other items that chronicle his years on the island.
Key West’s Tropic Cinema also remembers the playwright with screenings of Williams’ acclaimed hit movies on four consecutive Mondays in March. Films begin at 6:30pm and include Suddenly, Last Summer (March 1), The Fugitive Kind (March 8), The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (March 15) and The Rose Tattoo (March 22).
The celebration also features “Tandy Talks Tennessee,” an online presentation by Broadway and film actress Tandy Cronyn that you can stream from March 13 through March 20. Cronyn reminisces about Williams and her legendary parents, actor/director Hume Cronyn and actress Jessica Tandy, who originated the role of Blanche DuBois in Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire.
Other events include a plein air painting challenge that recalls Williams’ passion for painting and a virtual “happy hour” lecture by historian Cori Convertito, Ph.D., on the playwright’s life in Key West.
For complete event information, full schedule and ticketing call 305-295-6616 or hit up kwahs.org/education/twbc.
