The Theatre of Tennessee Williams brings together in matching format
the plays of one of America's most persistently influential and
innovative dramatists. Arranged in chronological order, this ongoing
series includes the original cast listings and production notes for all
full-length plays. Now available as a New Directions Paperbook, Volume
IV contains a wonderfully diverse collection of Williams's works.
Sweet Bird of Youth (1959) is a dramatic study of a fading Hollywood
actress, who tries to recapture her youth through a young drifter half
her age. In a lighter mood, Period of Adjustment (1960) tells of the
marital troubles of two "Middle American couples, a departure for the
playwright who himself labeled it a 'serious comedy.'" The Night of the
Iguana (1961), in sharp contrast, tells of human frailty and redemptive
strength on the West Coast of Mexico.