In Bed with Tenn

In 1980 President Carter presented Tennessee Williams with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award the government can give to a civilian. As Carter gave the award, he said, "Tennessee Williams has shaped the history of American drama. From passionate tragedy to lyrical comedy, his masterpieces dramatize the eternal conflict of body and soul, youth and death, love and despair. Through the unity of reality and poetry Tennessee Williams shows that the truly heroic in life or art is human compassion."

Now, thirty years later the Promenade Players pay homage to the man whose works are still stimulating and challenging audiences all over the world. The mission of the Promenade Players is "to produce work that is challenging, thought provoking and entertaining." In Bed with Tenn fulfills that mission.

The six short plays are:

Talk to me like the Rain and Let Me Listen
Two outsiders can connect only in bed.

Hello from Bertha
A prostitute, stricken with “acquired” diseases, suffers schizoid delusions while grasping on to the memory of an idolized lover from her past.

The Lady of Larkspur Lotion
A "drunkard" and a "degenerate" find solace and compassion in each other’s fantasies.

Green Eyes
Written as America’s unrest when the war in Vietnam reached a fever pitch, Green Eyes graphically reveals the effects of war through the sexual fantasies of a newlywed couple honeymooning in New Orleans.

The Big Game
Set in the men’s ward of a city hospital, the play raises the question of what really is the big game.

The Pronoun "I"
A whimsical fantasy involving a "Mad Queen" and a narcissistic "boy toy."