Tennessee Williams double bill at Pentameters Theatre - The Magic Tower / The Strangest Kind of Romance

Leonie Scott-Matthews presents The Magic Tower / The Strangest Kind of Romance - Tennessee Williams double bill at the Pentameters Theatre, a fringe venue in Hampstead, north London, from 4 to 23 Feb 2014. The Magic Tower will be making its UK premiere.

Directed by Seamus Newham, costume by Julia Dolimore, cast includes Julia Taylor (Linda), River Hawkins (Jim), Damian Regan (Mitch), Claire-Monique Martin (Babe), Victoria Kempton (Mrs O'Fallon), Alex Froom (The Little Man), Francesca Wilde (The Landlady), Jeffry Kaplow (The Old Man), Wim Mellor (The Boxer).

Both plays are set during the Great American Depression of the 1930s ...

The Magic Tower: Jim, a young painter, and Linda, an ex-vaudeville actress, live in a dilapidated studio loft. In true Bohemian form, these artists are starving; yet the love they share has the power to transform their dingy surroundings into a 'magic tower'. The arrival of Linda's vaudeville colleagues with their friendly but sinister patter, shatters her illusions and awakens Linda to the reality of her situation - forcing her into making a life changing decision.

The Strangest Kind of Romance: This takes place in a desolate rooming house in an industrial city. Williams tells the story of a ghost of a man who hides from the world he does not belong to by loving a cat named Nitchevo. His landlady seeks to use him for her own desires and destroy the only thing he loves. The arrival of a crude Stanley Kowalski styled boxer, provides the landlady with the gratification she seeks. The landlady's father-in-law rages against the industrial system that has emasculated him and ruined his life.