Tennessee Williams' plays are performed around the world, and are staples of the standard American repertory. His famous portrayals of women engage feminist critics, and as America's leading gay playwright from the repressive postwar period, through Stonewall, to the growth of gay liberation, he represents an important and controversial figure for queer theorists. Gross and his contributors have included all of his plays, a chronology, introduction and bibliography.

    Chronology and Introduction, Robert F. Gross * Frank Bradley on the crisis of the dramatic in William's work * Stephanie Hammer on GLASS MENAGERIE, focusing on the relationship between the artists and the feminine * Eric Patterson on representation of gay sexuality in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF and the context of post-World War II sexual politics in America * Kimball King on ORPHEUS DESCENDING with special reference to the representation of the South * Ann Wilson on SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH * Steven Bruhm on the queer poetics of SUDDLENLY LAST SUMMER * Steven Vineberg on THE NIGHT OF THE NIGHT IGUANA * Jay Scott Chipman on violence and maternity in RED DEVIL BATTERY SIGN * Bruce Mann on the late autobiographical plays * Rhonda Blair on Chekhov and Williams, focusing on William's adaptation of THE SEAGULL, THE NOTEBOOK OF TRIGORIN * Robert F. Gross on the aesthetics of failure in Williams, and its relationship to later American Theatre * Bibliography

    Biography

    Robert R. Gross is the Director of Theatre at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He is immersed in Williams scholarship and has published extensively on the playwright.

    "Robert Gross and his contributors have made an important contribution to Williams scholarship and merit a round of applause for their production of the mutiple-gendered selves of America's greatest playwright-showman." -- Philip C. Kolin, Modern Drama