Baby Doll at Fountain Theatre

OUR THIRD SHOW, closing out the year-long celebration of Tennessee Williams’ 100th birthday, the Elephant Theatre will present the seldom-produced tragicomedy Baby Doll. Adapted by Williams from his own one-act play 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, the film was released in 1956, directed by Elia Kazan. At that time, it was labeled “notorious, salacious, revolting, steamy, lewd, suggestive, provocative, and morally repellent.” It was also nominated for four Academy Awards, including best adapted screenplay.Baby Doll is an effort to decode modern sexual politics; it is also a timely rehashing of the familiar struggle of America’s “everyman.” The story centers around the arranged marriage of a doltish and passionate owner of a Southern cotton gin, and his stunningly beautiful and tenacious virgin bride who stubbornly refuses to consummate their marriage until the day of her 20th birthday. Compounding this fiery battle of wills is the arrival of a crafty and dark Sicilian gin mill magnate who covets both the dolt’s wife and his business. Concluding the 2011 season, Baby Doll will be a co-production of the Elephant Theatre and Double A Productions. Joel Daavid directs, and the run will be from November 11 through December 18 at the Lillian Theatre.