Sweet Bird of Youth
Tickets and Information
SHOW INFORMATION
Opened Jul 19, 2006
Closed Jul 30, 2006
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
"Relentless caper for all those who step / The legend of their youth into the noon." With this quote from his spiritual and literary mentor, Hart Crane, Tennessee Williams began his last great lyric play. A movie star who's seen better days, Alexandra Del Lago (travelling incognito as "Princess") occupies a hotel room with a young man, Chance Wayne. Chance hit Hollywood with big dreams. Now he's returned to his hometown with nothing to show for himself but a faded movie queen's desperate attentions. Does he really believe Princess still has the clout to secure him that screen test, or has Chance really come home to start up with the girl he ruined years before? The sweet bird of youth, Williams tells us, perches nearby for such a very short time. Nothing to be done, except make the most of that bird before it flies, flies away. David Jones directs.
THEATER/VENUE INFORMATION:
1000 Main St
Williamstown, MA 01267
The heart of the Williamstown Theatre Festival is a summer-long celebration of theater which brings together a vast and impressive array of artists and offers the community varied cultural experiences. For eleven weeks every summer, WTF presents ele [...] Read More
WHAT ARE CRITICS SAYING?
What are other members saying?
No user reviews have been posted yet.
Write a review
recommend, approve and/or guarantee such events, or any facts, views, advice and/or information contained therein.
©1999-2012 TheaterMania.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use & Privacy Policy
Directions & Map
You've got to hand it to Derek Cecil: When he makes an actorly "choice," he sticks with it. In the Williamstown Theatre Festival's otherwise successful staging of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth, Cecil has curiously opted to portray Chance Wayne, that archetypal hustler whose main chance resides in his raw animal magnetism, as a whiny, insecure loser from the get-go. The whole pathos of the play lies in Wayne's gradual realization, at the worldly-wise age of 29, that he'll never live up to his adolescent aspirations -- whether show-biz success or a romantic reunion with Heavenly Finley (Bess Wohl), the tarnished dream girl of his teens. A gradual peeling away of self-delusion makes f[...]