'Orpheus Descending': N.Y. troupe brings Tennessee Williams to his home turf

Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival and Infinite Theatre, backed by state cultural leaders, teamed to bring the popular production of Williams' Orpheus Descending to Mississippi for performances in Columbus, Oxford and Jackson.
Set in churches and hosted by community arts organizations, the shows re-introduce a Williams classic to fellow Mississippians, recognizing both the writer's deep well of inspiration here and his influential reach.
Brenda Caradine, director of the Tennessee Williams Tribute Committee in Columbus, has seen the show in Provincetown five times.
From the state's perspective, the hope is two-fold, McCullough said - to make Mississippians aware of the broad scope of Williams' legacy, and the native roots of his compelling plays. Last year's centennial of Williams' birth drew interest abroad as well as in the United States.
The Tennessee Williams Tribute in Columbus, the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council in Oxford, Mississippi Delta Tennessee Williams Festival in Clarksdale and Greater Jackson Arts Council are sponsoring organizations for the tour.
Conceived as a morality play to be performed in a house of worship, it takes imagery from the Greek myth and Williams' Episcopal, small-town upbringing. It takes place in the Mississippi Delta around the time of Lent, with lots of spiritual symbolism and religious overtones.
The main character Val, a blues guitarist, is seeking redemption and trying to turn his back on a corrupt life.
The drifter winds up at a small-town dry goods store run by an Italian immigrant, married to an old, dying man, and is taken in by her. It stirs up a town populated by religious types; a spiritual seer foretells the tragedy.
"The greatest hits of Tennessee Williams - this should be among them," he said. Orpheus Descending was made into a 1959 feature film, The Fugitive Kind, starring Marlon Brando and Joanne Woodward.
The play sold out multiple shows in Provincetown first in 2010 and was invited back for 2011, when the tour idea was hatched.
Orpheus Descending is just over three hours long with two intermissions and, Hall-Flavin notes, "worth every minute."