The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams premiering in 1944; it catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on Williams himself, his histrionic mother, and his mentally fragile sister Rose. In writing the play, Williams drew on an earlier short story, as well as a screenplay he wrote named The Gentleman Caller.

    The play premiered in Chicago in 1944. After a shaky start it was championed by Chicago critics Ashton Stevens and Claudia Cassidy, whose enthusiasm helped build audiences so the producers could move the play to Broadway where it won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1945. The Glass Menagerie was Williams’s first successful play; he went on to become one of America’s most highly regarded playwrights.

A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theater. The Broadway production was directed by Elia Kazan and starred Jessica Tandy, Karl Malden, Marlon Brando, and Kim Hunter. The London production opened in 1949 with Bonar Colleano, Vivien Leigh, and Renee Asherson, and was directed by Laurence Olivier. The drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often regarded as among the finest plays of the Twentieth Century and is generally considered to be Williams’ greatest work.