Suddenly, Last Summer is a play by Tennessee Williams. It opened on Broadway on January 7, 1958 as part of a double-bill with the Williams play Something Unspoken. The presentation of the two plays was given the overall title Garden District, but 'Suddenly Last Summer' is more often performed alone now. A play is a common form of literature, usually consisting chiefly of dialog between characters, and usually intended for performance rather than reading. ... Thomas Lanier Williams (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), better known by the pen name Tennessee Williams, was a noted playwright. ... January 7 is the seventh day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Plot

The play starred Anne Meacham as Catherine, a young woman who seems to go insane after her cousin Sebastian dies on a trip to Europe under mysterious circumstances. Sebastian's mother tries to cloud the truth about her son's homosexuality and his death, as she wants him to be remembered as a great artist. She threatens to lobotomize Catherine for her incoherent utterances relating to Sebastian's demise. Finally, under the influence of a truth serum, Catherine tells the gruesome story of Sebastian's death by cannibalism at the hand of local boys whose sexual favors he sought. Both his mother and later Catherine were only devices for him to attract the young men. Anne Meacham (born July 21, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actress of stage and television. ... INSANE is a proprietary INteractive Streaming ANimation Engine developped by LucasArts. ... World map showing Europe (geographically) When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... Since its coining, the term homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... Psychosurgery is the practice of performing surgery on the brain to treat or alleviate severe mental disease. ...

Analysis

As with many Williams plays, the play incorporates elements from Williams' own life along with elements from the life of his idol, poet Hart Crane. Williams' sister Rose was tragically compelled to undergo a lobotomy at the instigation of their domineering mother. Harold Hart Crane (July 21, 1899 in Garrettsville, Ohio, United States – April 26, 1932) was a U.S. poet. ...

Adaptations

In 1959 the play was adapted as a movie directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, and Montgomery Clift. The screenplay was adapted by Gore Vidal and Williams from his play. The movie was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Katharine Hepburn), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Elizabeth Taylor) and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White. The Hollywood Production Code forced Vidal to cut out the explict references to homosexuality. 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Joseph Leo Mankiewicz (February 11, 1909–February 5, 1993) was a Jewish-American Hollywood screenwriter, director and producer. ... Elizabeth Taylor Elizabeth Taylor, DBE, (born February 27, 1932) is a British Academy Award winning actress. ... Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an iconic star of American film, television and stage, widely recognized for her sharp wit, New England gentility and fierce independence. ... Montgomery Clift Montgomery Clift (October 17, 1920 - July 23, 1966) was an American actor. ... A screenplay or script is a blueprint for producing a motion picture. ... Gore Vidal, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1948 Eugene Luther Gore Vidal, known better simply as Gore Vidal, (born October 3, 1925) is a well-known American man of letters, a writer of novels, plays and essays, and a public figure for over fifty years. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... The Academy Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... The Academy Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. ... The Production Code (also known as the Hays Code) was a set of guidelines governing the production of motion pictures. ...

The play was again adapted for television in 1993 under the direction of Richard Eyre and starring Maggie Smith, Rob Lowe, Richard E. Grant, and Natasha Richardson. 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Sir Richard Eyre, (born 28 March 1943), is a British film and theatre director. ... Dame Margaret Natalie Smith Cross, DBE, (born December 28, 1934 in Ilford, Essex), better known as Maggie Smith, is a British film, stage, and television actress. ... Rob Lowe (2003) Rob Lowe (born March 17, 1964 in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA) is an American actor who was a member of the Brat Pack. ... Richard E. Grant Richard E. Grant (born Richard Grant Esterhuysen on May 5, 1957) is a British actor, born in Mbabane, Swaziland. ... Natasha Richardson Natasha Richardson (born 11 May 1963 in London) is a British-American actress who played the title character in The Handmaids Tale, the 1990 film based on Margaret Atwoods prophetic novel. ...

External links

• Suddenly, Last Summer at the Internet Broadway Database
• Suddenly, Last Summer (1959 film) at the Internet Movie Database
• Suddenly, Last Summer (1993 TV movie) at the Internet Movie Database