Mark your calendars because starting on Saturday, March 1, Key West rolls out the red carpet for a month-long birthday celebration honoring Pulitzer Prize-winning literary icon Tennessee Williams, who resided here for 34 years.
Hosted by the Key West Art & Historical Society, the annual Tennessee Williams Festival pays homage to one of the world’s most popular literary giants with a series of art and cultural events staged at various venues around the island. Events honoring Williams include museum fundraisers, plein air painting competitions, poetry and short story writing contests, academic lectures, museum tours, film screenings, live theater, and a birthday party replete with cake and bubbly.
Born on March 26,1911, Williams visited and lived in Key West from1941 until 1983, when he inhaled an eyedropper bottle cap in a freak accident and choked to death.
During his storied life, Williams’ award-winning classics like “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof,” earned him two Pulitzer Prizes, Tony Awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and many other literary awards. The Academy Award-winning film adaptation of his play, “The Rose Tattoo” was filmed here in 1954.
And here’s a little tidbit that you might not know: Tennessee Williams was also a prolific painter.
While his award-winning stories often explored the dynamics of the American South and his tumultuous upbringing, he turned to painting to express other private thoughts. Struggling with alcohol and drug abuse as well as depression, the tormented Williams used writing and then painting as a coping mechanism.
His paintings and sketches span over 50 years and include portraits, landscapes, caricatures, compositions, a still-life, and several self-portraits.
In 2008, local resident Dennis Beaver began curating Tennessee Williams memorabilia and exhibiting a very small collection of artifacts. Throughout the years, his collection expanded and has now evolved into the acclaimed Tennessee Williams Museum which showcases photographs, artwork, first edition plays and books, rare newspaper and magazine articles, videos, a typewriter, and other fascinating artifacts.
You can visit Key West’s Tennessee Williams Museum every M – Sa from 10 am – 5 pm at 513 Truman Avenue. For more details of the upcoming Festival events, see pages (18 – 24) or go to twfest.org.
FESTIVAL EVENTS
March 6 6:30 pm
Tennessee Williams Classic Movie Night
A Streetcar Named Desire
Outdoor screening at the Tropic Cinema,
416 Eaton St.
March 7 10 am – 11 am
Tennessee Williams Curator Tour
A Streetcar Named Desire @ Tennessee Williams Museum 513 Truman Ave.Departs
from Mallory Square
March 10 6:30 pm
Tennessee Williams Classic Movie Night
Eccentricities of a Nightingale
Tropic Cinema, 416 Eaton St.
March 13 5 – 6 pm
Happy Hour with the Historian: Tennessee Williams in Key West Comedy
Key West, 218 Whitehead St.
March 14 5 – 6 pm
Tennessee Williams Curator Tour
The Rose Tattoo
Tennessee Williams Museum, 513 Truman Ave.
Departs from Mallory Square
March 15 5 – 6:30 pm
Tennessee Williams Songbook Part II
with Bobby Nesbit & Carmen Rodriguez
Key West Woman’s Club 319 Duval St.
March 17 6:30 pm
Tennessee Williams Classic Movie Night
The Rose Tattoo
Tropic Cinema, 416 Eaton St.
March 18 11 am – Noon
Tennessee Williams Curated Trolly Tour
A Trolley Tour Named Desire @ Key West Museum of Art & History, 281 Front St.
Departs from Mallory Square
March 21 6 – 7:30 pm
Tennessee Williams New Orleans-Themed Dinner
Williams Hall, 729 Fleming St.
March 21 8 – 9:30 pm
The Men of Tennessee Williams
A Staged Reading
Williams Hall, 729 Fleming St.
March 26 5 – 7 pm
Tennessee Williams Birthday Party & Contest Results
Tennessee Williams Museum 513 Truman Ave.
March 27 – 29 8 pm – 9:30 pm
A Distant Country Called Youth Staged Reading
Waterfront Playhouse, 407 Wall St in Mallory Square.
