In Tennessee Williams’ melodramatic tale, small town life in the deep south is imagined as a troubled, hellish place, beset by bigotry and violence. The play centers around Lady Torrance, who runs a small-town dry goods store. While her husband lays dying upstairs, she continues with her plans to adapt the back room of the store into a local nightclub. She is determined that it will be designed as an homage to the wine garden that was created by her late Italian immigrant father, and then burned down for his willingness to serve black customers. Lady is helped by Val Xavier, a drifter and newcomer to the town, with a distinctive guitar and snakeskin jacket. He soon becomes more than just her store clerk but, with tensions running high in the town, will their affair be their undoing?
Orpheus Descending guide sections
