The Two-Character Play

Reality and fantasy are interwoven with terrifying power as two actors, brother and sister, find themselves deserted by the troupe in a “state theatre of a state unknown.” Faced (perhaps) by an audience expecting a performance, they enact The Two-Character Play, an illusion within an illusion.

Williams’s fugue of a play brilliantly intertwines fantasy and reality, as Felice and Clare, two touring actors and siblings, are abandoned in an isolated theatre by their troupe. One of Williams’s most directly personal plays, it evolved through several versions. Williams said of the play: “I think it is my most beautiful play since Streetcar.”