Period of Adjustment
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Period of Adjustment (subtitled High Point over a Cavern) is a 1960 play by Tennessee Williams that was adapted in the film version of 1962.
Both the stage and film versions are set on Christmas Eve and tell the gentle, light-hearted story of two couples, one newlywed and the other married for five years, both experiencing pains and difficulties in their relationships. The two male characters are veterans of the
Williams wrote the first draft of the play in November 1958 "in a rush of activity partly induced by drugs."
The theatre has made its greatest artistic advance through the unlocking and lighting up and ventilation of the closets, attics, and basements of human behaviour and experience. No significant area of human experience should be held inaccessible, provided it is presented with honest intention and taste, to the writers of our desperate time.[2]
The play received average reviews and closed March 4, 1961 after 132 performances. The original cast in order of appearance was:[3]
- James Daly as Ralph Bates
- Barbara Baxley as Isabel Haverstick
- Robert Webber as George Haverstick
- Helen Martin as Susie
- Esther Benson as Lady Caroler
- Nancy R. Pollock as Mrs. McGillicuddy
- Lester Mack as Mr. McGillicuddy
- Charles McDaniel as The Police Officer
- Rosemary Murphy as Dorothy Bates
In February 2006, the play was revived at the Almeida Theatre in London.
Footnotes
- ^ Spoto 1985, p. 228.
- ^ a b Rocamora 2006.
- ISBN 9780451514387.
References
- ISBN 0-306-80805-6.
- Rocamora, Carol (February 18, 2006). "Delicate people". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2011-06-18.