Tennessee Williams in Sweden and France, 19451965: Cultural Translations, Sexual Anxieties and Racial Fantasies

(Hardback)

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The immediate post-war period marks a pivotal moment in the internationalization of American theatre when Tennessee Williams plays became some of Broadways most critically acclaimed and financially lucrative exports. Dirk Gindt offers a detailed study of the production and reception of Williams work on Swedish and French stages at the height of his popularity between 1945 and 1965. Analysing the national openings of seminal plays, including The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending and Suddenly Last Summer, Gindt provides rich and nuanced insights into Williams transnational impact. In the process, he charts a network of fascinating and influential directors, actors, designers, producers and critics, all of whom left distinctive marks on mid-twentieth-century European theatre and culture. Gindt further demonstrates how Williams work foregrounded cultural apprehensions, racial fantasies and sexual anxieties, which resulted in heated debates in the critical and popular media.

Reviews

Adds relevant insight to contemporary Tennessee Williams scholarship, to drama studies and to the transcultural approach in the humanities ... A fascinatingly detailed assessment of the various layers of the production and reception of Williams plays in Sweden and France. * Sken: Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies *
In this fascinating book, readers dive into the snake pit with Williamss masterpieces and emerge not deranged by madness but enlightened about some of the ways cultural translationparticularly the cultural and critical anxieties of the target cultureinevitably alters a source text. * The Tennessee Williams Annual Review *
Dirk Gindt's meticulously researched book offers valuable new insights into the broader impact of Williams' oeuvre from an interdisciplinary perspective that engages the complexities involved in cultural migration -- Annette J. Saddik, City University of New York, USA
Dirk Gindts meticulously researched study of the reception of Tennessee Williamss best-known plays in Sweden and France is a revelation. His is the first book to analyze the European premieres of Williamss plays by some of the most eminent directors and actors of the period. Gindts elegantly written prose demonstrates that these plays, first seen during the height of the Cold War, served as lightning rods in Europe for heated debates about anti-Americanism, homophobia, female sexuality, and race relations. -- David Savran, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA

Author Bio

Dirk Gindt is Professor in the Department of Culture and Aesthetics at Stockholm University. His research attends to post-war and contemporary queer theatre and performance from an international and intercultural perspective. He is the co-editor of Viral Dramaturgies: HIV and AIDS in Performance in the Twenty First Century (2018) and the author of over fifteen refereed articles and book chapters. His work has been published in Theatre Journal, Theatre Survey, Theatre Research in Canada, Journal of Canadian Studies, Nordic Theatre Studies, Journal of Homosexuality, Fashion Theory and The Tennessee Williams Annual Review. His current project critically analyses the impact of HIV and AIDS on theatre and performance in Sweden and Canada.