European filmmaker to record event
for centennial documentary
Press Release from Coahoma Community College Public Relations
October 4, 2010
Panny Mayfield, Director
CLARKSDALE - Next weekend’s Mississippi
Delta Tennessee Williams is drawing international attention
with Austrian filmmaker Herbert Krill recording its two-day
program for a documentary marking the playwright’s 100th birthday
in March 2011.
The 45-minute documentary will air on Public Television
in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, says Krill, who plans
to be in Clarksdale October 15-16 for the 18th annual celebration.
A veteran filmmaker for the past 30 years, Krill says, “The
main question the documentary will pose is how relevant and
topical is T.W. today.”
“Given that so many German and Austrian theatres are currently
staging plays by T.W. and that so many issues he touched are
still ‘hot’ today, the answer will be an emphatic ‘yes,’”
continues the filmmaker.
Although the German-language film will be geared to a Central
European audience, Krill says he will create a version with
English subtitles to screen at American festivals.
 |
| Tennessee
Williams
with Mother and Sister |
In 2009 two Williams dramas dominated London’s West End
theatres with sold-out productions of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
and A Streetcar Named Desire.
In August 2009 the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
aired its Radio 2 documentary recorded at Clarksdale’s Williams
Festival to an audience of 13 million.
Already booking reception reservations for the 2010 festival
are fans of the playwright from Oxford, England, St. Augustine,
Kansas, California, Michigan, and Tennessee.
Tom “Tennessee” Williams was born March 26, 1911, in Columbus.
When he was a toddler, his family moved to Clarksdale where
his grandfather, the Rev. Walter Dakin, was rector of St.
George’s Episcopal Church for 16 years.
 |
| Kenneth
Holditch &
Dakin Williams |
When the U.S. Postal Service unveiled its Tennessee Williams
postage stamp during the 1995 festival in Clarksdale’s historic
district, keynote speaker Kenneth Holditch labeled Williams
as America’s premiere playwright.
“He produced dramas that have become staples in world theatre
and some of the most memorable characters since Shakespeare
– Blanche DuBois, Big Daddy, Maggie the Cat, and Amanda Wingfield,”said
the speaker.
“He spent his most formative years in Clarksdale in the
Mississippi Delta which supplied him with more stories and
characters than any other place on earth,” Holditch continued.
The 2010 festival opens Friday morning at Coahoma Community
College’s Whiteside Lecture Hall with Holditch presenting
another keynote address. This one explores the screenplay,
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond.
With its 1920-era setting in the Mississippi Delta and Memphis,
the movie was filmed and directed in 2009 by Memphis native
Jodie Markell from a screenplay written in 1957.
Later before the movie is screened at the Delta Cinema in
downtown Clarksdale, Markell will talk about her own experiences
filming with actors Bryce Dallas Howard, Ann Margaret, and
Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn.
 |
| Williams
2005 Maggie and Big Daddy |
Performing scenes from several of the playwright’s great Delta
plays in Whiteside Hall following the keynote address will be
veteran New York theatre professionals Erma Duricko, Timothy
Brown, and Marissa Duricko of Blue Roses Productions, and Jeff
Glickman from the Pensacola Little Theatre.
Offering insights and commentary on their readings and
the movie, the festival’s panel of scholars headed by English
professor Colby Kullman, moderator, includes professors Ann
Fisher-Wirth and Ralph Voss; theatrical producer Robert Canon;
creative writer and John Grisham fellow Anna Baker; and film
critic and screenwriter Coop Cooper.
The literary conference will also present a paper by graduate
student Robert Rae exploring Delta Italians in the Williams
drama: Orpheus Descending.
Friday night’s “Meet and Greet” celebrity reception at the
historic Clark House will showcase the gourmet Southern cuisine
of CCC Chef Robert Rhymes and his culinary students; live
drama, music by Daddy Rich, Jeff Glickman, and the award-winning
Coahoma Men’s Ensemble singing gospel and soul selections
and directed by Kelvin Towers.
The elite Student Drama Competition takes over Saturday
morning in the Civic Auditorium with fledgling Mississippi
actors presenting monologues, scenes, and Stella shouts for
$3,000 in prize money donated by Coahoma Community College
for their school drama departments.
Erma Duricko will conduct an acting workshop, and Jodie
Markell will talk about careers in theatre and movies.
Opening Saturday afternoon’s events will be an organ recital
at St. George’s Episcopal Church presented by Jay Westerfaul,
the new church organist.
Visitors are invited to tour the church office and former
rectory – a National Literary Landmark – and also to attend
an open house with refreshments hosted by the Clarksdale Women’s
Club across the street.
 |
| Tennessee
Williams Barr Porch Play |
Porch plays with audiences seated in lawn chairs in the historic
district where Tom Williams spent his childhood will begin at
2:30 p.m. and continue through 4:30 p.m., and a barbecue supper
will be served at 5 p.m. in the Civic Auditorium.
Student Competition winners will present their monologues
and scenes followed by commentary from the festival’s theatre
professionals, and exchanges among all groups.
The Eddie Lee Coleman Blues Band will kick off the finale
dance.
 |
| Tennessee
Williams |
The festival is free and open to the public thanks to funding
from Coahoma Community College, the Mississippi Arts Commission,
the Mississippi Humanities Council, the Rock River Foundation,
the Coahoma County Tourism Commission, Chamber of Commerce,
Clarksdale Revitalization, Inc., area patrons: Fiser Insurance
Agency, and the Hal Fiser Agency, and an army of volunteers.
Reservations are required for the Friday luncheon ($12);
Friday night reception ($25) and Saturday barbecue, ($12).
For schedules, reservation forms, and more information, view
the festival website: www.coahomacc.edu/twilliams
or call CCC public relations at 662-621-4157. Donations
are welcome.
