The Two-Character Play
Encyclopedia
The Two Character Play, also known as Out Cry
in one of its alternate versions, is a play by Tennessee Williams
written 25 years after his famous A Streetcar Named Desire
. It was one of most personal works. Tennessee Williams spent almost ten years writing and rewriting this play.
and the emerging Harold Pinter
, than with the name that Tennessee Williams had come to signify. Although the play is a marked departure from the naturalism
of his classics, familiar themes permeate. Confinement due to mental illness, repression leading to social isolation and the tyranny and claustrophobia
that comes from impinging on one another’s psychological and physical space, are all present in The Two-Character Play.
When the play premiered in its various forms, it was not well received by critics or audiences. At the time many audiences attended the theatre as a form of escapism. The Two-Character Play was the exact opposite. Clare and Felice, the actors, as well as the characters they play, cannot, no matter how hard they try to delude themselves, escape from the reality of their deteriorating mental states. Consequently, the viewers themselves are confronted with the darker truths of what it is to be human.
It was very experimental for its time. The language is heightened. There are slabs of verbosity juxtaposed with pauses and stunted sentences.
The Two-Character Play is partially autobiographical. The actor Clare and especially the character Clare, are loosely based on Williams’ sister Rose, and the actor Felice and the character Felice, on Williams himself. The "confining nature of human existence" was a major theme throughout his work and this play is seen to be his most personal interpretation.
It took Williams over ten years to write The Two-Character Play, longer than any other play, and illustrates an innovation in his writing style.
was the title of one version of this play, which premiered at the Ivanhoe Theatre in Chicago in July 1971. Out Cry later premiered on Broadway, directed by Peter Glenville
and co-starring Michael York
and Cara Duff-MacCormick
, and which ran from March 1–10, 1973 at the Lyceum Theater after one preview on February 28.)
The plot is confusing and difficult to follow, with little sense of a resolution. The Two-Character Play has a concurrent double plot with the convention of a play within a play scenario. The characters of Clare and Felice are psychologically damaged from witnessing the traumatic murder/suicide of their parents. They have remained recluses in the family home since the incident and are attempting to make hesitant contact with the outside world. As the actors dip in and out of performance, improvising parts not memorised or not yet written, it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate the actors from the characters and reality from illusion.
in 2005 at the University of Melbourne
with siblings Stephen Ryan and Sarah Ryan playing the roles of Felice and Clare. San Francisco's Theatre Rhinoceros
will stage the show in January 2012.
Out Cry
Out Cry is a play by Tennessee Williams which was one version of The Two-Character Play by Williams. Out Cry premiered at the Ivanhoe Theatre in Chicago on July 8, 1971. It debuted on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre with a preview on February 28, 1973 and then ran from March 1-10...
in one of its alternate versions, is a play by Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
written 25 years after his famous A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
. It was one of most personal works. Tennessee Williams spent almost ten years writing and rewriting this play.
Background
After winning critical and popular acclaim with his earlier plays, Williams wanted to experiment and expand his writing style. His later creations had more in common with playwrights Samuel BeckettSamuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
and the emerging Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
, than with the name that Tennessee Williams had come to signify. Although the play is a marked departure from the naturalism
Naturalism (literature)
Naturalism was a literary movement taking place from the 1880s to 1940s that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character...
of his classics, familiar themes permeate. Confinement due to mental illness, repression leading to social isolation and the tyranny and claustrophobia
Claustrophobia
Claustrophobia is the fear of having no escape and being closed in small spaces or rooms...
that comes from impinging on one another’s psychological and physical space, are all present in The Two-Character Play.
When the play premiered in its various forms, it was not well received by critics or audiences. At the time many audiences attended the theatre as a form of escapism. The Two-Character Play was the exact opposite. Clare and Felice, the actors, as well as the characters they play, cannot, no matter how hard they try to delude themselves, escape from the reality of their deteriorating mental states. Consequently, the viewers themselves are confronted with the darker truths of what it is to be human.
It was very experimental for its time. The language is heightened. There are slabs of verbosity juxtaposed with pauses and stunted sentences.
The Two-Character Play is partially autobiographical. The actor Clare and especially the character Clare, are loosely based on Williams’ sister Rose, and the actor Felice and the character Felice, on Williams himself. The "confining nature of human existence" was a major theme throughout his work and this play is seen to be his most personal interpretation.
It took Williams over ten years to write The Two-Character Play, longer than any other play, and illustrates an innovation in his writing style.
Plot
The characters in this play, Felice and Clare are two actors on tour, they are also brother and sister. They find themselves deserted by their acting troupe in a decrepit "state theatre in an unknown state". Faced (perhaps) by an audience expecting a performance, they enact The Two-Character Play – an illusion within an illusion, an 'out cry' from isolation, panic, and fear. (Out CryOut Cry
Out Cry is a play by Tennessee Williams which was one version of The Two-Character Play by Williams. Out Cry premiered at the Ivanhoe Theatre in Chicago on July 8, 1971. It debuted on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre with a preview on February 28, 1973 and then ran from March 1-10...
was the title of one version of this play, which premiered at the Ivanhoe Theatre in Chicago in July 1971. Out Cry later premiered on Broadway, directed by Peter Glenville
Peter Glenville
Peter Glenville , born Peter Patrick Brabazon Browne, was an English film and stage actor and director.-Biography:...
and co-starring Michael York
Michael York (actor)
Michael York, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:York was born in Fulmer, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the son of Florence Edith May , a musician; and Joseph Gwynne Johnson, a Llandovery born Welsh ex-Royal Artillery British Army officer and executive with Marks and Spencer department stores...
and Cara Duff-MacCormick
Cara Duff-MacCormick
Cara Duff-MacCormick is a Canadian actress best known for her work within the American theatre.-Career:Born in Woodstock, Ontario, Duff-MacCormick studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City before making her professional debut Off-Broadway in December 1969 at the...
, and which ran from March 1–10, 1973 at the Lyceum Theater after one preview on February 28.)
The plot is confusing and difficult to follow, with little sense of a resolution. The Two-Character Play has a concurrent double plot with the convention of a play within a play scenario. The characters of Clare and Felice are psychologically damaged from witnessing the traumatic murder/suicide of their parents. They have remained recluses in the family home since the incident and are attempting to make hesitant contact with the outside world. As the actors dip in and out of performance, improvising parts not memorised or not yet written, it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate the actors from the characters and reality from illusion.
Performances
The play itself is rarely performed. A 30th Anniversary production was staged in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 2005 at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
with siblings Stephen Ryan and Sarah Ryan playing the roles of Felice and Clare. San Francisco's Theatre Rhinoceros
Theatre Rhinoceros
Theatre Rhinoceros or Theatre Rhino is a gay and lesbian theatre based in San Francisco. It was founded in the spring of 1977 by Lanny Baugniet and his partner Allan B. Estes, Jr....
will stage the show in January 2012.