So today I read In the Bar of A Tokyo Hotel by Tennessee Williams, a play I had no familiarity with before I opened the cover. I am of course familiar with many of Williams plays but this one? Not at all.
So a few thoughts about this play:
I wanted to look up when this play was in Williams career as it seems so different from the works I am familiar with, both in style and content. Interestingly enough, its after many of his most famous and career launching pieces but smack dab in the middle of his many published works (1969 in a career that started with Glass Menagerie in 1944 and ended with his final play in the year of his death in 1983).
The play is about a woman who is very unhappily married (and unfaithful) to her also deeply unhappy (about her unfaithfulness) painter. The style of writing has almost no complete sentences or completely voiced thoughts - the words trail off or are interrupted by other characters. Its also quite explicit for a writer who launched with the proper styles of Menagerie, with the main woman speaking of both her sexual exploits and groping the Japanese barkeepers crotch on stage. It was also interesting to me that there is a character of a Hawaiian woman whose sole purpose is to cross the entrance twice - as in she doesn't even come on stage, but merely you see her cross an entry way from left to right and then back again, and is casually mentioned by the main character and then forgotten. It makes me think about what William's purpose was of including this character and how a a director should use this piece of the puzzle... or on the other hand how this character could be completely removed from actually appearing and only referenced. When a play has so many sentences that die off deliberately and its up to the audience to ascertain the final intended thoughts, this character's inclusion is a deliberate choice of the playwright...
Final Verdict: While I often enjoy Williams better known works, this one often shocked me because of the very jarring style. I like the show but don't love it. It's not as simple and clear cut - its muddy and difficult on purpose.
Next up: I think tomorrow will be The Children's Hour.
As always, if you would like to make a suggestion of a play to read, leave it in the comments! If you would like to join me in reading, I'd love the company. #PlayADay4May
-Matt
So a few thoughts about this play:
I wanted to look up when this play was in Williams career as it seems so different from the works I am familiar with, both in style and content. Interestingly enough, its after many of his most famous and career launching pieces but smack dab in the middle of his many published works (1969 in a career that started with Glass Menagerie in 1944 and ended with his final play in the year of his death in 1983).
The play is about a woman who is very unhappily married (and unfaithful) to her also deeply unhappy (about her unfaithfulness) painter. The style of writing has almost no complete sentences or completely voiced thoughts - the words trail off or are interrupted by other characters. Its also quite explicit for a writer who launched with the proper styles of Menagerie, with the main woman speaking of both her sexual exploits and groping the Japanese barkeepers crotch on stage. It was also interesting to me that there is a character of a Hawaiian woman whose sole purpose is to cross the entrance twice - as in she doesn't even come on stage, but merely you see her cross an entry way from left to right and then back again, and is casually mentioned by the main character and then forgotten. It makes me think about what William's purpose was of including this character and how a a director should use this piece of the puzzle... or on the other hand how this character could be completely removed from actually appearing and only referenced. When a play has so many sentences that die off deliberately and its up to the audience to ascertain the final intended thoughts, this character's inclusion is a deliberate choice of the playwright...
Final Verdict: While I often enjoy Williams better known works, this one often shocked me because of the very jarring style. I like the show but don't love it. It's not as simple and clear cut - its muddy and difficult on purpose.
Next up: I think tomorrow will be The Children's Hour.
As always, if you would like to make a suggestion of a play to read, leave it in the comments! If you would like to join me in reading, I'd love the company. #PlayADay4May
-Matt
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