Overview
Synopsis
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?
Show Information
- Book
- Tennessee Williams
- Category
- Play
- Age Guidance
- Thirteen Plus (PG-13)
- Number of Acts
- 3
- First Produced
- 1957
- Genres
- Drama
- Settings
- Period, Unit/Single Set
- Time & Place
- A dry goods store in a small Southern town, America, 1950s
- Cast Size
- large
- Licensor
- Concord Theatricals
- Ideal For
- College/University, Regional Theatre, Professional Theatre, Includes Adult, Mature Adult, Elderly, Young Adult Characters, Large Cast
Context
Orpheus Descending opened in 1957 in New York City. Tennessee Williams was already an established playwright by this point after achieving success with several plays, including The Glass Menagerie (1944), and A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). However, Orpheus Descending was not as favorably received and was regarded as a critical failure. Williams had worked on the play for over seventeen years. In 1940, the first version of the play, entitled Battle of Angels, opened in Boston but
to read the context for Orpheus Descending and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Plot
Act One
In a dry-goods store in a small southern town, Dolly and Beulah are laying out a buffet supper for the return of the store’s owner, Jab Torrance. While they work, they gossip and reveal that Jabe has had surgery in Memphis but is known to be dying. Beulah then brings up his wife, Lady, revealing that he “bought” her when she was 18 and had just lost her father and had her heart broken by David Cutrere. Lady’s father was an Italian immigrant who owned an orchard, which he turned
to read the plot for Orpheus Descending and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
Songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
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Videos
Quizzes
Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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Quote Analysis
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Guide Written By:
Alexandra Appleton
Writer, editor and theatre researcher