What to do at the cenTENNial

The events at the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival are in too great a number to be considered for one lowly article. GoodNola is intent on thoroughly combing through the special events and plucking out the ones to which our readers should be made privy.

Wednesday, March 23, the festival kicks off with a world premiere of three of Williams’s one-act plays (The Pretty Trap: A Comedy in One Act, The Magic Tower, and Every Twenty Minutes). Festival-goers will have to dig deep into their pockets to foot the $100 ticket price for this limited seating event, held at the Southern Repertory Theatre in the 300-block of Canal Street. The show starts at 7:00 pm.

Those who are on a more restrictive budget should consider Cocktails and Cinema. The Clock Bar at the historic Chateau Bourbon Hotel has invited celebrity mixologists to judge a Tennessee Williams-inspired cocktail competition (which is open to the public). Once the creative juices are sufficiently flowing, guests will be escorted to the rooftop courtyard for a screening of the 1956 adaptation of Williams’s Baby Doll, a dark comedy that has been called “the dirtiest, American-made motion picture that has ever been legally exhibited” by Time Magazine. But after a few well-constructed drinks, who will care? The cocktails begin at 7:00 pm; the movie at 8:30. Tickets are $5.

The following night, Thursday, March 24, Literary Late Night will be brought to One Eyed Jacks where the National Comedy Company hits the stage for a completely improvised, audience-interactive, musical skit that’s being billed as “the most ridiculous show Tennessee Williams never wrote.” Following will be the main event: a poetry slam (hosted by local poet Chuck Perkins) where the prize for best word artist comes in the form of $100 cash money. Think your words pull the best punches? Sign up for the slam from 7:00-7:30 pm the evening of the event. The show starts at 8:00. Tickets are $15.