A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  2w, 3m

Tennessee Williams

An artist, Mark, is worn to a nervous ruin by a breakthrough in his painting technique and is abandoned and destroyed by his witch of a wife.

In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 3m
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
An artist, Mark, is worn to a nervous ruin by a breakthrough in his painting technique and is abandoned and destroyed by his witch of a wife. The intensity of the work, the unremitting challenges and demands it makes of him leave so little of him after the working hours that simple comfortable being is impossible for him.
History

In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel premiered at the Eastside Playhouse in New York City in May 1969 under the direction of Herbert Machiz.

Keywords
Performing Groups

BARMAN - works in the hotel
MARK - a painter on the verge of collapse
MIRIAM - his sexually repressed wife
HAWAIIAN LADY 
LEONARD - Mark's Manhattan art dealer and close friend 

  • Setting The bar of a Tokyo hotel. 

Media

REVIEWS

"This is Mr. Williams's sad bird of loneliness — and, although the play repelled me it fascinated me with the author's occasional sudden resurgence of skill — there are plaintive notes of poetry recalling Williams at his very best . . . There are more flashes of genius here than in any of his later plays. Mixed with the feeble jokes . . . and all the hesitations of style the play is heir to, there is gold, gossamer and fire here, and there are bursting sharp exchanges of dialogue that recall The Glass Menagerie in their suddenly poignant pertinence . . . A strange play — but unlike Mr. Williams's previous play, it definitely makes me look forward to his next." - The New York Times

"The play shines an undeniable light on the chasm between spiritual ambition and carnal need..." - Variety 

ON BREAKING CHARACTER

10 Tennessee Williams Plays to Perform
by Cathy Thomas
June 5, 2019

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
  • Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)
  • Chorus Size N/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

  • Licensing available for professional groups only. Some restrictions apply.

Scripts

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Authors

Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) explored passion with daring honesty and forged a poetic theatre of raw psychological insight that shattered conventional proprieties and transformed the American stage. The autobiographical The Glass Menagerie brought what Mr. Williams called “ ...
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