Tennessee Williams in Provincetown
On judging a book by its cover: Depending on the p.o.v., one could either be drawn into or turned off by the depiction of an unseasoned, nubile, nude Tennessee (cut off discreetly at the waist) against a vibrant blue background above the dunes and edged in shocking pink. Since this is a slim paperbound volume, some snap judgments might be drawn. They would most likely all be wrong. What Kaplan, Williams specialist and "curator" of the newly inaugurated Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival, has done is to produce a carefully researched scholarly monograph concentrating on the four summers (1940, 41, 44, 47) that Williams spent in P-town.... Much of the story told here by Kaplan is new material. He dug into archives, interviewed many survivors of the P-town days, and found the original text of the one-act play "The Parade," that was wrenched from the anguished Williams after the loss of his first love Kip Kiernan (Bernard Dubowsky), a twenty-two year old Canadian dancer. The play, says Kaplan, written in July and August of 1940, was lost, like the love it depicts, and not rediscovered until years later.... Recommended for all theater collections and personally for Williams afficionados. RICHARD M. BUCK, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (Retired). Copyright 2007 Theatre Library Association. All rights reserved. --Broadside, vol 34, no 2 (Winter 2007)