Tiger Tail

Synopsis

In this sultry play of the Deep South, Baby Doll, the twenty-year-old innocent (or is she?) tears her older husband apart as his frustration grows when she attracts two men - husband Archie Lee and the much younger bronzed Sicilian cotton manager. Baby Doll is the play version of the 1956 film, and a radical reworking by Tennessee Williams of his short play '27 Wagons Full of Cotton', which was first produced in 1946, as part of his 'Mississippi Delta' collection - plays concerning the lives of people living, and working, in and around that particular area of the mighty river. Archie, a middle-aged, shady cotton gin owner burns down the mill of Silvia Vicarro, a rival in the cotton trade. Vicarro, who knows what happened but powerless to prove it, takes revenge by seducing Archie's child bride. Adding dramatically to the tension is the revelation that Archie, and Babydoll's, nuptial agreement states that the marriage can only be consummated on her twentieth birthday, which just happens to be three days away...

Our Review:

Simon Cole - 2 October 2012

Tiger Tail is Tennessee Williams’ stage adaptation of his own 1956 film script Baby Doll, itself a reworking of his short play 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, which was first produced in 1946, as part of his 'Mississippi Delta' collection. These were plays concerning the lives of people living, and working, in and around that particular area of the mighty river. Amazingly, Tiger Tail, originally staged in the US in 1977, has never been presented in the UK, so this new production, now playing at the Nuffield, Southampton marks the British premiere.

Tennesse Williams’ writing seethes with desire and sexuality, and the movie Baby Doll created a furore when it was released, provoking Time Magazine to declare it "just possibly the dirtiest American-made motion picture that has ever been legally exhibited."

Patrick Sandford’s new staging is certainly a steamy, sultry affair. Set in the Deep South, violent, bigote...

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Latest User Review

James - 7 October 2012:

I saw this last night and was really blown away by it. I don't know if it has developed a lot since "Adam" saw it but it was anything but forgettable. So much so I wanted to see what others had said about it. I agree that Aunt Rose's accent did go off at times (which stops me from putting 5 stars), but I found her ejection at the end deeply moving. And I found the other 3 main performances very powerful, especially Ed Cooper Clarke's Italian-American filled with sadness, rage and sexuality, and flipping the world of Baby Doll and Archie Lee upside down. I would definitely recommend. It's an unusual play, perhaps, but well worth seeing: great performances and wonderfully atmospheric design...

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