Saddik explores Williams' later plays (1961-82) in the context of what she terms a 'theatre of excess', which seeks liberation through exaggeration, chaos, ambiguity, and laughter. Grounding the plays in the carnivalesque, the grotesque, and psychoanalytic, feminist, and queer theory, Saddik analyzes recent productions that successfully captured the playwright's late aesthetic.
This book explores Williams' late plays in terms of a 'theatre of excess', which seeks liberation through exaggeration, chaos, ambiguity, and laughter.
Advance praise: 'Annette Saddik is a rare scholar. Not only does this book demonstrate her qualities as a meticulous theatre historian and Tennessee Williams specialist, but every page bristles with ideas. This book is of utmost importance for understanding the development of Williams' dramatic output and of the confluence of twentieth-century American and European performance.' Martin Halliwell, University of Leicester
