When writer and playwright Tennessee Williams moved to New Orleans in 1939, the city left a profound effect on the artist and his work. Now, every year in the city he loved, a group of artists and scholars celebrate the legacy of the great playwright with the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival.
“It was founded by a group of people who sat around thinking that there was a jazz festival and several events that honored music, but realized that there was no one in New Orleans celebrating the literary arts,” said Ellen Johnson, the publicist for the festival.
The festival takes place over five days, which are usually at the end of March to celebrate the writer’s March 26 birthday.
The festival features a menagerie of events, which appeal to a variety of fans and scholars. Some of the highlights include a master class series, panels, celebrity interviews and a scholar’s conference.
Many of Williams’ greatest plays are to be performed during the festival, like “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “The Night of the Iguana” and several of Williams’ Hotel Plays  — a series of one-act plays that all take place in different rooms of a hotel. The plays will take place in Hermann-Grima house, a historic building in the French Quarter where the audience will follow the actors from room to room.
One of the biggest events of the festival is the Stanley and Stella shouting contest, which closes the festival. Hundreds of fans descend upon Jackson Square to recreate the climactic scene in “A Streetcar Named Desire” where Stanley screams Stella’s name in a fit of passion.
The event started in an attempt to bring a visually enticing aspect to the mostly indoor festival and has succeeded in drawing a great deal of attention. For the first iteration of the contest, only about 25 people competed. Recent years have dwarfed that number with dozens entering to see who can deliver the most passionate performance.
“When it started, we were out there asking people to participate and now they line up to sign up. People are clambering to get into the contest, it’s really taken off,” Johnson said.
The festival celebrates the literary significance of Williams’ work while offering events for casual admirers and diehard fans alike.
“It’s not the same thing every year. There is always something new, and I think it’s unique in that way,” Johnson said.
The festival stretches from Wednesday to Sunday in New Orleans. Tickets for the events can be purchased at the festival’s website, tennesseewilliams.net.
“It’s not the same thing every year, there is always something new and I think it’s unique in that way.”