The Rose Tattoo

Rose Tattoo, The (1951), a play by Tennessee Williams. [Martin Beck Theatre, 306 perf.; Tony Award.] In a small village on the Gulf Coast, the passionate and devout Sicilian‐American, Serafina della Rosa (Maureen Stapleton), lives with an idealized memory of her late husband, a truck driver. But, for all the defenses she builds, the truth about her husband's many infidelities are eventually brought home to her and threaten to destroy her until Alvaro Mangiacavallo (Eli Wallach) comes into her life. He too is a truck driver, and his warmth and ebullience help restore Serafina's zest for life. Happy again, she even encourages a budding romance between her daughter Rosa (Phyllis Love) and a young sailor, Jack Hunter (Don Murray). The play had been written with Italian film star Anna Magnani in mind, but she refused to play it on stage, though she eventually made the film version. Many critics were disturbed by Williams's growing penchant for symbolism, which was woven through the work, but the play has successfully held the stage in regional theatres and in a fine mounting at the Circle in the Square in 1995 featuring Mercedes Reuhl and Anthony LaPaglia.

Tennessee Williams
1950

Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo was first staged in Chicago in 1950, premiered in New York City in 1951, and was a success with audiences. It is Williams's most light-hearted play, an homage, many say, to his beloved sister Rose and to Frank Merlo, whom Williams loved.

The drama chronicles events separated by three years in the life of its main character, Serafina Delle Rose. Serafina is characterized by her boastful pride, and the play's drama and humor revolves around whether she will learn humility.

What a close reading of the play suggests is that it is a mixed genre play. What this means is that it blends together distinct dramatic forms. The play synthesizes comedic elements, elements borrowed from ancient Greek tragedy, and elements that invoke ancient Greco-Roman celebrations of the god Dionysus. The play's comedy rests on its bawdiness and the way the characters get themselves into ridiculous fixes. Its nod to the classic, tragic form is that Serafina has a major flaw, like all tragic heroes. The play's focus on virility is its primary Dionysian element, as Dionysus is associated with life, love, virility, and intoxication. Dionysus is also, significantly, the god of right worship. He punishes mortals who think they are as great as gods or who refuse to give the gods their worshipful due. The two classic strains of the play work together in the way that the lusty Serafina is at once a celebration of life and a character whose flaw is self-worship.

Like many of Williams's plays, The Rose Tattoo is set in the U.S. South, Williams's birthplace. It stands out, however, for its cast of characters, who are Italian Americans with Sicilian roots.

This article is about the 1951 play. For other uses, see The Rose Tattoo (film).

The Rose Tattoo
1st edition cover (New Directions)
Written by	Tennessee Williams
Characters	Serafina Delle Rose Alvaro Mangiacavallo Man The Strega Father De Leo Doctor Teresa Flora Salesman Miss Yorke Rosa Delle Rose Peppina Salvatore
Date premiered	3 February 1951
Place premiered	Martin Beck Theatre
Original language	English
Genre	Drama
Setting	Gulf Coast village between New Orleans and Mobile.
IBDB profile

The Rose Tattoo is a Tennessee Williams play. It opened on Broadway in February 1951, and a film adaptation was released in 1955. It tells the story of an Italian-American widow in Louisiana who has allowed herself to withdraw from the world after her husband's death, and expects her daughter to do the same.

The film was adapted by Williams and Hal Kanter and directed by Daniel Mann, starring Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster, Marisa Pavan and Jo Van Fleet.

The 2007 revival at the National Theatre, London, England starred Zoë Wanamaker and Susannah Fielding.

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 1951 Tony Award for Best Play
• 1951 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play - Eli Wallach
• 1951 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play - Maureen Stapleton
• 1951 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design - Boris Aronson
• 1951 Theatre World Award - Maureen Stapleton and Eli Wallach

External links

• The Rose Tattoo at the Internet Broadway Database
• The Rose Tattoo (film) at the Internet Movie Database

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v • d • e Tony Award for Best Play Mister Roberts (1948) · Death of a Salesman (1949) · The Cocktail Party (1950) · The Rose Tattoo (1951) · The Fourposter (1952) · The Crucible (1953) · The Teahouse of the August Moon (1954) · The Desperate Hours (1955) · The Diary of Anne Frank (1956) · Long Day's Journey into Night (1957) · Sunrise at Campobello (1958) · J.B. (1959) · The Miracle Worker (1960) · Becket (1961) · A Man for All Seasons (1962) · Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1963) · Luther (1964) · The Subject Was Roses (1965) · Marat/Sade (1966) · The Homecoming (1967) · Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1968) · The Great White Hope (1969) · Borstal Boy (1970) · Sleuth (1971) · Sticks and Bones (1972) · That Championship Season (1973) · The River Niger (1974) · Equus (1975) Complete list: (1948-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present)

v • d • e Plays by Tennessee Williams Apprentice plays Candles to the Sun (1936) · Spring Storm (1937) · Fugitive Kind (1937) · Not about Nightingales (1938) · Battle of Angels (1940) · You Touched Me (1945) · Stairs to the Roof (1947) Major plays The Glass Menagerie (1944) · A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) · Summer and Smoke (1948) · The Rose Tattoo (1951) · Camino Real (1953) · Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) · Orpheus Descending (1957) · Suddenly, Last Summer (1958) · Sweet Bird of Youth (1959) · Period of Adjustment (1960) · The Night of the Iguana (1961) · The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore (1963) · The Seven Descents of Myrtle (1968) · In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel (1969) · Will Mr. Merriweather Return from Memphis? (1969) · Small Craft Warnings (1972) · The Two-Character Play (1973) · The Red Devil Battery Sign (1975) · This Is (An Entertainment) (1976) · Vieux Carré (1977) · A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur (1979) · Clothes for a Summer Hotel (1980) · The Notebook of Trigorin (1980) · Something Cloudy, Something Clear (1981) · A House Not Meant to Stand (1982) Related articles List of one-act plays by Tennessee Williams

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