Add this copy of Orpheus Descending to cart. $6.67, fair condition, Sold by The Yard Sale Store rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Narrowsburg, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1987 by Dramatists Play Service Inc.
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Seller's Description:
Acceptable. THE SCRIPT! Not so pretty. ACTING EDITION SCRIPT will serve as a useful Starving Student Edition when you need an extra! Some shelf wear and edge wear to the covers. some noticeable scuff marks to the covers and the page edge. Former actor has made markings to the text. Used but still useful. Will serve as an extra for your dramatic and theatrical needs.
Add this copy of Orpheus Descending to cart. $6.99, fair condition, Sold by The Yard Sale Store rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Narrowsburg, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1967 by Dramatists Play Service Inc.
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Seller's Description:
Acceptable. STARVING STUDENT EDITION ACTING SCRIPT when you need an extra! Some shelf wear and edge wear to the covers. THE FORMER ACTOR HAS MARKED UP THE SCRIPT. Expect to see possible former actor name, highlighting, underlining and sidebar notes. Not so pretty ACTING EDITION SCRIPT, used but still useful, economically priced for your performance needs.
Add this copy of Orpheus Descending to cart. $7.65, good condition, Sold by The Yard Sale Store rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Narrowsburg, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1959 by Dramatists Play Service Inc.
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Seller's Description:
Good. 1959 Publication date. THE SCRIPT! Some dark tanning to the covers. Some shelf wear and edge wear to the covers. A few markings by the former actor. Enjoy this reliable ACTING EDITION useful for performance.
Add this copy of Orpheus Descending to cart. $7.88, good condition, Sold by The Yard Sale Store rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Narrowsburg, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1967 by Dramatists Play Service Inc.
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Seller's Description:
Good. THE SCRIPT! Presentable ACTING EDITION. Some shelf wear and tanning to the covers. Tight binding and the text flows clearly. Enjoy this ACTING SCRIPT reliable for your performance needs.
Add this copy of Orpheus Descending to cart. $7.88, fair condition, Sold by The Yard Sale Store rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Narrowsburg, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1987 by Dramatists Play Service Inc.
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Seller's Description:
Acceptable. THE SCRIPT! Acting Edition in useful condition. A sticker marked USED to the spine. Some shelf wear to the covers. Good binding and the text flows clearly. Enjoy this ACTING SCRIPT presentable for performance.
Add this copy of Orpheus Descending: a Play in Three Acts to cart. $9.77, good condition, Sold by The Yard Sale Store rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Narrowsburg, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1987 by Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
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Seller's Description:
Good. THE SCRIPT! Reliable ACTING EDITION Script. Some shelf wear and edgewear to the covers. Some noticeable spots to the covers. Good binding. The dialogue flows nicely. Enjoy this ACTING SCRIPT useful for your theatrical needs.
Add this copy of Orpheus Descending: a Play in Three Acts to cart. $9.96, good condition, Sold by The Yard Sale Store rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Narrowsburg, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1983 by Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
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Seller's Description:
Good. THE SCRIPT! Useful ACTING EDITION. Some shelf wear to the covers. Good dialogue inside. Enjoy this Reliable ACTING EDITION SCRIPT Worthwhile for performance.
Add this copy of Orpheus Descending: a Play in Three Acts to cart. $10.67, good condition, Sold by The Yard Sale Store rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Narrowsburg, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1967 by Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
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Seller's Description:
Good. THE SCRIPT! Acting Edition. Some shelf wear and edge wear to the covers. Good binding. Plenty of clean clear text. Enjoy this useful ACTING EDITION SCRIPT worthwhile for your performance needs.
Add this copy of Orpheus Descending: a Play in Three Acts to cart. $12.95, good condition, Sold by The Yard Sale Store rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Narrowsburg, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
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Seller's Description:
Good. THE SCRIPT! Reliable acting script in presentable condition. Some noticeable scuff marks to the covers. Good clear text inside. This is the ACTING EDITION SCRIPT!
Add this copy of Orpheus Descending a Play in Three Acts to cart. $13.35, very good condition, Sold by Books on the Boulevard rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Sherman Oaks, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by Dramatists Play Service, Inc..
Tennessee Williams (1911 -- 1983) currently [2004] is getting a great deal of attention in Washington, D.C. The Kennedy Center is presenting three of his major dramas performed by marquis stars. The Washington Opera is presenting an operatic version of "A Streetcar Named Desire" with music by Andre Previn. But another Washington theater, the Arena Stage, is taking a more adventurous approach. It is reviving Williams's little-known work "Orpheus Descending". It was my good fortune to see this production. It lead me to read the play and to think about it, about Tennessee Williams, and about passionate and romantic theater.
Orpheus Descending was first presented on Broadway in 1957 where it enjoyed a brief run and only modest success. The play is a rewrite of an early Williams effort, "Battle of Angels" which was written in 1940 and poorly received. Williams was attached to Orpheus and to the effort it cost him. When the play appeared in 1957, he wrote that "[o]n the surface it was and still is the tale of a wild-spirited boy who wanders into a conventional community of the South and creates the commotion of a fox in a chicken coop. But beneath that now familiar surface it is a play about unanswered questions that haunt the hearts of people and the difference between continuing to ask them, ... and the acceptance of prescribed answers that are not answers at all."
The play is a retelling of the Orpheus legend and deals, in the most elemental fashion, with the power of passion, art, and imagination to redeem life and return it to meaning. The story is set in a dry goods store in a small southern town marked, in the play, by conformity, sexual frustration, narrowness,and racism. Into the scene steps Val, a young man with a guitar,a snakeskin jacket, a past and undeniable animal and erotic energy and appeal. He gets a job in the dry goods store run by a middle-aged woman named Lady whose elderly husband is dying. Lady has a past and passions of her own and she is attracted to Val and to life as an antidote to her loveless marriage. The play describes the awakening of passion, love, and life -- and its tragic consequences for Val and Lady.
The play deals with passion, its repression and its attempted recovery. For Williams, I think it is about trying to live bravely and honestly in a fallen world. The play is replete with lush, poetic dialogue and imagery. On the stage, the production seems in the opening sections somewhat lacking in dramatic movement, but it picks up power as the characters are developed and the play moves to its climax. Val as Orpheus, represents the force of energy and eros which buried as they are in compromise and in humdrum everydayness have the tragic power to make life anew.
I felt lucky to have the opportunity to see this play. It shows, I think, how much remains to be explored in the world of art when we look just a bit below the surface. Those not in a position to see the play themselves will still have the joy of discovery in reading this obscure work by a great romantic American dramatist and poet.
Robin Friedman
SubRosaDallas
Jul 4, 2007
The hazards of passing through
This in one of Tennessee's lesser plays that he continued to rewrite over the years: Orpheus Descending also appears in earlier form as the Fugitive Kind. A drifter arrives in a town that one would hesitate to call sleepy. The drifter is the lust object of a spoiled, rich, wild girl and the neglected, abused wife of a hateful husband. The husband and the sherrif both want him out of town. Through a series of poor decisions involving both women, the drifter brings down the wrath of the town and he falls victim to a horrific revenge.