31st Annual MS Delta Tennessee Williams Festival - it’s three full days of touring, scholar talks, live performances and social events.

Schedule:
Thursday, October 12, 2023

10:00 AM | 109 Clark Street | Clarksdale

Depart Cutrer Mansion
Ride the Coahoma Community College Bus en route to Benoit to the Baby Doll House, 77 Burrus Road, Benoit, Mississippi
- Enjoy a ride through the MS Delta on Highway 1 going to Benoit. See old homes, cotton fields, working farms, and the levee that keeps the Mighty Mississippi River in place. The ride to Benoit and back is FREE, but we prefer you sign up. There is limited seating on the bus. You are also welcome to take your own vehicle. Email Taylor Armstrong at [email protected] to reserve your space on the bus.

11:30 AM | Burrus House | 77 Burrus Road | Benoit

Arrive Benoit | Tour the Burrus House where the 1956 movie Baby Doll was filmed

12:30 PM | Burrus House back patio | 77 Burrus Road | Benoit

Lunch-N-Learn
Picnic Boxes available on-site from a Cleveland, Mississippi, “takery” called Our Delta Table which specializes in fresh, wholesome handmade foods such as chicken salad, pimento cheese, pasta salad, fresh fruit. We will have a variety of boxes available (Salad Trio, Croissant Sandwich or the Turkey BLT Wrap), but will need to know by Friday, October 9th if you plan to purchase one. The cost is $15 per box. Email Taylor Armstrong at [email protected] to reserve a picnic box. We will share specific box choices as it gets closer. We take cash, check or Venmo. You may also bring your own sack lunch to enjoy. Water will be provided.

1:00 PM to 2:45 PM | Burrus House back patio | 77 Burrus Road | Benoit

Scholar Talks
All presentations relate back to the Baby Doll film or to Tennessee Williams plays, but presentations will expand to the Delta Land and Culture
-  Dr. Clay Motley (Music Focus)
-  Dr. Ann Fisher-Wirth (Poetry Focus)
-  Dr. Jim DelPrince (Flower Focus & Demonstration)
3:00 PM

Depart Burrus House

4:15 PM

Arrive in Clarksdale | Cutrer Mansion, 109 Clark Street

5:15 PM to 7:15 PM | Cutrer Mansion lawn | 109 Clark Street

Delta Dinner Party with Local Cuisine |  A Toast to Dr. W. Kenneth Holditch | Featuring performance by the Coahoma Community College Choir under the direction of Dr. Kelvin K. Towers.
-  The 2023 MDTWF is dedicated to the late Dr. W. Kenneth Holditch, Professor Emeritus at the University of New Orleans and World Renowned Williams Scholar.
-  Dr. Holditch was one of the original consultants for the Clarksdale festival and served as the keynote speaker for many years as well. We are grateful for his commitment and service as a devoted advisor and friend.
- Food bites representing the very best cuisine in the MS Delta including barbecue, hot tamales, slaw, baked beans, kibbie balls, cabbage rolls, catfish bites, fried rice, egg rolls, rigatoni and meatballs, and homemade pie. The cost for a dinner ticket is $35 per person and $60 for two. Dinner tickets must be pre-ordered and purchased by October 9th by contacting Taylor Armstrong at 662-621-9344 at [email protected]. We take cash, check or Venmo.

7:30 PM | Clark House front lawn | 211 Clark Street

Night Under the Stars | Screening of 1956 film Baby Doll  | 114 min

(Next door to the Cutrer Mansion – bring your own lawn chair or picnic blanket)
-  Scandalous in its time and still steamy today, this 1956 film is considered a dark comedy that tells the Tennessee Williams tale of a child-like bride named “Baby Doll” Meighan (Carroll Baker), and the men who want to own her.
- When cotton gin owner Archie Lee Meighan (Karl Malden) destroys rival Silva Vacarro’s (Eli Wallach) cotton gin, a battle ensues, and Baby Doll is stuck in the middle.
- Screenplay written by Tennessee Williams and based on two of his one-act plays (The Unsatisfactory Supper and 27 Wagons Full of Cotton), Elia Kazan’s shot-on-location film creation reveals gender, class, and racial prejudices experienced in the Mississippi heat.

Friday, October 13, 2023

9:15 AM | CCC Whiteside Lecture Hall | 3240 Friars Point Rd

Presentation | W. Ralph Eubanks | Culture and Prejudices in the Mississippi Delta

10:15 AM | CCC Whiteside Lecture Hall | 3240 Friars Point Rd

Presentation | Dr. Michele Meek | Courting Controversy: Forbidden Desire in the Film Baby Doll
- The 1956 film Baby Doll, written by Tennessee Williams and directed by Elia Kazan, elicited scandal, protests, and a ban from the Legion of Decency due to its story of a young married woman, Baby Doll, who has never consummated her relationship with her husband and instead embarks on an intimate relationship with his nemesis. In this talk, Professor Michele Meek discusses exactly what was so controversial—and compelling—about Baby Doll in its era and how the film continues to resonate in many respects, even today.

11:15 AM | CCC Whiteside Lecture Hall | 3240 Friars Point Rd

Performance | W.C., TENNESSEE, THE BLUES & ME | Written and Directed by Levi Frazier Jr. of Blues City Cultural Center
- This 1-act play incorporates blues music while highlighting three creative geniuses of the Mississippi Delta: W.C. Handy and Tennessee Williams while Robert Johnson narrates. Discussion follows. 

12:15-1:30 PM

Lunch on your own at one of Clarksdale’s fine restaurants

12:30-2:30 PM | 106 Sharkey Avenue

Tennessee Williams Rectory Museum open

-  Between 1917 and 1932, a young Tom "Tennessee" Williams lived with, and then regularly visited his grandparents in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where his grandfather Walter E. Dakin was rector of St. George's Episcopal Church. Williams was deeply influenced by the Mississippi Delta, and featured Clarksdale people, places, and stories in some of his most famous plays, including The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Summer and Smoke, and Orpheus Descending. The museum is housed in the four upstairs bedrooms in the former rectory of St. George's Episcopal Church, once occupied by Williams and his family.

1:30 PM - Keynote Address – To Be Announced

2:30 PM | Clarksdale Woman’s Club | 101 Sharkey Avenue

Presentation | Karen Kohlhaas | A Hollywood Review: On Location in the Mississippi Delta. Karen will tell the story of the Hollywood movie whose production took over the lives of many residents in Benoit and Greenville, Mississippi when the cast and crew of Baby Doll came to town.

4:00 PM  | Chapman, Lewis & Swan Law Office Porch | 501 1st Street

Performance | The Long Stay Cut Short OR The Unsatisfactory Supper directed by Augustin J. Correro of the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans | Panel discussion to follow

5:30 PM | Home of Eva Connell

Outdoor Wine & Cheese Reception & Performance | Performance starts at 6:30 pm

Saturday, October 14, 2023

9:00 AM | Norman Brown Commons Bldg, Cutrer Mansion| 109 Clark Street

Student Drama Competition | Sponsored by Coahoma Community College

- A festival favorite, the Student Drama Competition highlights students from around the region who will perform monologues, scenes and Stella calls competing for the opportunity to win trophies and $2,500 in award money for their school programs. Open to the Public.

12noon-1:30 PM

Lunch on your own at one of Clarksdale’s fine restaurants

- Student Pizza Party in the courtyard of the Cutrer Mansion

12:30-2:30 PM | 106 Sharkey Avenue

Tennessee Williams Rectory Museum open

- Between 1917 and 1932, a young Tom "Tennessee" Williams lived with, and then regularly visited his grandparents in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where his grandfather Walter E. Dakin was rector of St. George's Episcopal Church. Williams was deeply influenced by the Mississippi Delta, and featured Clarksdale people, places, and stories in some of his most famous plays, including The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Summer and Smoke, and Orpheus Descending. The museum is housed in the four upstairs bedrooms in the former rectory of St. George's Episcopal Church, once occupied by Williams and his family.

1:00-2:30 PM  | 101 Sharkey Avenue

Clarksdale Woman’s Club Reception
- The Clarksdale Woman’s Club, which has been an active service club for women since 1907, will serve refreshments in their club house built in 1923. It is located across the street from St. George's Episcopal Church and the Tennessee Williams Rectory Museum. Stop by the Woman's Club for some hometown hospitality and refreshments before the Porch Plays.

2:30 pm | St. George's Episcopal Church, Sharkey Ave near 1st Street

Tennessee Williams at St. George’s Church with the Rev. Charlie Deaton

- The Reverend Charlie Deaton of St. George’s Episcopal Church talks inside the sanctuary where Tennessee Williams’ grandfather, the Rev. Walter E. Dakin, was rector from 1917 – 1932.

3:00-5:00 PM

Porch Plays in the Historic District

-  3 pm | 415 Court Street | Panny’s Porch |The Last of My Solid Gold Watches Performed by Johnny McPhail - Introduction by Susan McPhail

- 3:30 pm | 203 Court Street | Sherman Law Offices | A Tennessee Williams Performance by StoryWorks, a documentary theater company that transforms investigative journalism into theater and audio dramas - Introduction by Jenna Welch

- 4:00 pm | 235 Clark Street | A Tradition: Long-time community theater actor, Sherrye Williams, discusses and performs her favorite Williams character Amanda Wingfield - Introduction by Dr. Clay Motley

 - 4:30 pm  | 41 John Street | 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. Light refreshments served. Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans- Introduced and Directed by Augustin J. Correro

5:30 PM | 207 Yazoo Avenue

After-Party at the “Hot Spot Café” | Yazoo Pass

Date: October 12 - 14, 2021
Location: Various Venues in Clarksdale, MS.

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