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Camino Real
In this phantasmagorical play, the Camino Real is a dead end, a police state in a vaguely Latin American country, and an inescapable condition. Characters from history and literature―Don Quixote, Casanova, Camille, Lord Byron―inhabit a place where corruption and indifference have immobilized and nearly destroyed the human spirit. Then, into this netherworld, the archetypal Kilroy arrives―a sailor and all-American guy with “a heart as big as the head of baby.” Celebrated American playwright John Guare has written an illuminative Introduction for this edition. Also included are Williams’ original Foreword and Afterword to the play, the one-act play "Ten Blocks on the Camino Real," plus an essay by noted Tennessee Williams scholar Michael Paller.
161 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1948
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About the author
Tennessee Williams
754 books3,703 followersThomas Lanier Williams III, better known by the nickname Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright of the twentieth century who received many of the top theatrical awards for his work. He moved to New Orleans in 1939 and changed his name to "Tennessee," the state of his father's birth.
Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, after years of obscurity, at age 33 he became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944) in New York City. This play closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961). With his later work, he attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century, alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.
Much of Williams' most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
From Wikipedia
Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, after years of obscurity, at age 33 he became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944) in New York City. This play closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961). With his later work, he attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century, alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.
Much of Williams' most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
From Wikipedia
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September 26, 2025
Tennessee Williams' Camino Real
Tennessee Williams 1953 play, "Camino Real" differed markedly from his early successful Broadway works, including "The Glass Menagerie", "A Streetcar Named Desire", "Summer and Smoke", and "The Rose Tattoo". Williams wrote these works in a romantically realistic way with plots and development of character. "Camino Real" broke from this pattern in its expressivist, non-linear style. The play has a surreal feel with characters who drift in and out of its strange symbolic setting. Williams wrote and rewrote the play based upon an early effort, "Ten Blocks on the Camino Real". When "Camino Real" opened on Broadway under Elia Kazan's direction, it received mixed, predominantly negative reviews together with a great deal of controversy. The play closed after 60 performances. It was the first of Williams' Broadway failures. In its obscure style, the play foreshadows other works of late Williams, which largely failed, following "The Night of the Iguana
in 1961.
"Camino Real" is set in a small town presumably located in Mexico but a product of imagination. As described in the play, the town has an expensive section dominated by a fancy hotel, the Siete Mares, which borders on a skid row. The skid row includes a dreadful flophouse, a pawn shop,and a fortune-telling stall run by a Gypsy. Beyond the town stretches a mountain and a desert. In a Prologue to the play Don Quixote's sidekick Sancho Panza says of Camino Real that "the spring of humanity has gone dry in this place."
The play includes many characters, some of whom are historical, some are drawn from literary works, and some are contemporary. Characters wandering through Camino Real include Don Quixote, Sancho, Lord Byron, Casanova, Marguerite, Esmeralda, and more. The town also has its own mysterious permanent residents, including Gutman, the owner of the Siete Mares who also narrates the play, the owners of the pawn shop and flop houses, blind singers, aging prostitutes and the Streetsweepers, who serve as police and henchmen and discourage the expression of free thought or romance in the town. The major character in the play is Kilroy, 27, an American and former championship boxer on the skids who is cast into Camino Real with only memories of his past successes. Kilroy has been told he doesn't have long to live. He suffers from a bad heart which has expanded in his chest to the "size of the head of a baby."
The characters in "Camino Real" tell their stories and interact in strange impressionistic ways which owe as much to the setting and to symbols as to the script. The thread of Kilroy's story runs through the work. He is robbed and then humiliated when forced to work as a "patsy" in the Sieta Mares. When Esmeralda, a prostitute and the alleged daughter of the Gypsy, regains her virginity by the light of the full moon, as is her wont, she and Kilroy have a paid relationship which strangely blossoms into feeling on both sides. In a strange sequence, Kilroy loses his money and his golden gloves to the pawn shop and also loses his expanded golden heart. But the play suggests that Kilroy recovers something of his soul and spirit at the end.
"Camino Real" is an unabashedly romantic play. Its many characters are aged, dissilusioned and burned out and strive with varying degrees of success to regain their zest for life, creativity, and passion. As is often the case in Williams' plays, the characters tend to be the heart of the playwright writ large. The plays succeed to the extent that Williams is able to universalize his feelings. "Camino Real" concerns itself with artists, outcasts, and losers. The tone of the work reminded me of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" which would be written two years later. Indeed, "Camino Real" has been described as the first "bop" play. Here is one of the key monologues of the play spoken by the prostitute Esmeralda, Kilroy's lover.
" God bless all con men and hustlers and pitchmen who hawk their hearts on the street, all two-time losers who're likely to lose once more, the courtesan who made the mistake of love, the greatest of lovers crowned with the longest horns, the poet who wandered far from his heart's green country and possibly will and possibly won't be able to find his way back, look down with a smile tonight on the last cavaliers, the ones with the rusty armor and soiled white plumes, and visit with understanding and something that's almost tender those fading legends that come and go in this plaza like songs not clearly remembered, oh, sometime and somewhere, let there be something to mean the word honor again!"
Subsequent to its initial Broadway failure, there have been attempts over the years to revive "Camino Real". The work continues to provoke widely varying responses. In addition to its obscurity, the play is difficult to perform due to its length, its large cast, and its elaborate, costly setting. I saw the play when it was performed at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. some years ago and had difficulty with it. It is not hard to understand that the play would be hard to grasp by an unsuspecting audience watching it on the stage. I also had trouble with the play when I read and reread it. It is not an easy work to grasp and requires patience. If not one of Williams' more successful works, it is poetical and rewarding. John Lahr's biography, "Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh" discusses "Camino Real" in detail and encouraged me to revisit the play. In addition to this New Directions edition, "Camino Real" is available in the first of the two Library of America volumes devoted to the plays of Tennessee Williams.
Robin Friedman
Tennessee Williams 1953 play, "Camino Real" differed markedly from his early successful Broadway works, including "The Glass Menagerie", "A Streetcar Named Desire", "Summer and Smoke", and "The Rose Tattoo". Williams wrote these works in a romantically realistic way with plots and development of character. "Camino Real" broke from this pattern in its expressivist, non-linear style. The play has a surreal feel with characters who drift in and out of its strange symbolic setting. Williams wrote and rewrote the play based upon an early effort, "Ten Blocks on the Camino Real". When "Camino Real" opened on Broadway under Elia Kazan's direction, it received mixed, predominantly negative reviews together with a great deal of controversy. The play closed after 60 performances. It was the first of Williams' Broadway failures. In its obscure style, the play foreshadows other works of late Williams, which largely failed, following "The Night of the Iguana
in 1961.
"Camino Real" is set in a small town presumably located in Mexico but a product of imagination. As described in the play, the town has an expensive section dominated by a fancy hotel, the Siete Mares, which borders on a skid row. The skid row includes a dreadful flophouse, a pawn shop,and a fortune-telling stall run by a Gypsy. Beyond the town stretches a mountain and a desert. In a Prologue to the play Don Quixote's sidekick Sancho Panza says of Camino Real that "the spring of humanity has gone dry in this place."
The play includes many characters, some of whom are historical, some are drawn from literary works, and some are contemporary. Characters wandering through Camino Real include Don Quixote, Sancho, Lord Byron, Casanova, Marguerite, Esmeralda, and more. The town also has its own mysterious permanent residents, including Gutman, the owner of the Siete Mares who also narrates the play, the owners of the pawn shop and flop houses, blind singers, aging prostitutes and the Streetsweepers, who serve as police and henchmen and discourage the expression of free thought or romance in the town. The major character in the play is Kilroy, 27, an American and former championship boxer on the skids who is cast into Camino Real with only memories of his past successes. Kilroy has been told he doesn't have long to live. He suffers from a bad heart which has expanded in his chest to the "size of the head of a baby."
The characters in "Camino Real" tell their stories and interact in strange impressionistic ways which owe as much to the setting and to symbols as to the script. The thread of Kilroy's story runs through the work. He is robbed and then humiliated when forced to work as a "patsy" in the Sieta Mares. When Esmeralda, a prostitute and the alleged daughter of the Gypsy, regains her virginity by the light of the full moon, as is her wont, she and Kilroy have a paid relationship which strangely blossoms into feeling on both sides. In a strange sequence, Kilroy loses his money and his golden gloves to the pawn shop and also loses his expanded golden heart. But the play suggests that Kilroy recovers something of his soul and spirit at the end.
"Camino Real" is an unabashedly romantic play. Its many characters are aged, dissilusioned and burned out and strive with varying degrees of success to regain their zest for life, creativity, and passion. As is often the case in Williams' plays, the characters tend to be the heart of the playwright writ large. The plays succeed to the extent that Williams is able to universalize his feelings. "Camino Real" concerns itself with artists, outcasts, and losers. The tone of the work reminded me of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" which would be written two years later. Indeed, "Camino Real" has been described as the first "bop" play. Here is one of the key monologues of the play spoken by the prostitute Esmeralda, Kilroy's lover.
" God bless all con men and hustlers and pitchmen who hawk their hearts on the street, all two-time losers who're likely to lose once more, the courtesan who made the mistake of love, the greatest of lovers crowned with the longest horns, the poet who wandered far from his heart's green country and possibly will and possibly won't be able to find his way back, look down with a smile tonight on the last cavaliers, the ones with the rusty armor and soiled white plumes, and visit with understanding and something that's almost tender those fading legends that come and go in this plaza like songs not clearly remembered, oh, sometime and somewhere, let there be something to mean the word honor again!"
Subsequent to its initial Broadway failure, there have been attempts over the years to revive "Camino Real". The work continues to provoke widely varying responses. In addition to its obscurity, the play is difficult to perform due to its length, its large cast, and its elaborate, costly setting. I saw the play when it was performed at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. some years ago and had difficulty with it. It is not hard to understand that the play would be hard to grasp by an unsuspecting audience watching it on the stage. I also had trouble with the play when I read and reread it. It is not an easy work to grasp and requires patience. If not one of Williams' more successful works, it is poetical and rewarding. John Lahr's biography, "Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh" discusses "Camino Real" in detail and encouraged me to revisit the play. In addition to this New Directions edition, "Camino Real" is available in the first of the two Library of America volumes devoted to the plays of Tennessee Williams.
Robin Friedman
February 23, 2018
This play is in some ways awesome, but it's also a challenge to decipher and to keep track of, mainly because Williams has used so many literary references as symbols to represent various themes. I can't imagine giving it 3 stars if I hadn't read some explanations of the play when I became stumped! And it doesn't get more stars because I think with half the cast and references, it would have been just as loaded but at least bearable. Also, without the added info, and lots of patience, I would have dismissed it as absurdist (not my thing), whereas it's really just fantastic.
November 7, 2021
Tennessee Williams seems to have felt the need to justify Camino Real more than any of his other plays, and my copy of it contains both a foreword and an afterword, as well an appreciation by someone else.
If only Williams had thought to spend time explaining rather than justifying it. That might have been more use to us. However writers are often the worst people to ask when trying to understand their works.
Williams amusingly tells about a young critic who wrote down a list of the confusingly ambiguous images and cross-examined the dramatist about what they all meant. I would love to have been a fly on the wall at that conversation, as I imagine the poor young man left the conversation no wiser than when he began.
I suspect that the young man’s approach was mistaken because he expected the writer to have a clearly-defined symbolic meaning for everything that happens, whereas Camino Real does not work like that.
Symbolism (contrary to appearances) is actually a plain and straightforward manner of writing. Everything means something else. Work out the key, and the story becomes obvious. However the….I won’t say ‘true artist’ because who am I to define what true art is?....Shall we say the imaginative artist is rarely a mere symbolist. The works may contain symbolism and allegory, but there is usually a sense in which many of the scenes are intended to reflect real experiences, and that is what makes it so confusing.
Camino Real must be accounted a failure for Williams nonetheless. It was panned by critics, and audience members walked out on it. Hence the defensive tone of Williams’ introduction to the play. This is a shame, as Williams claims to have spent considerable time carefully constructing the play.
The problem is that it is too arty and pretentious, and meaning disappears into vagueness. On the whole I’m not a fan of literature where I feel as if I need a literary guidebook to navigate my way through the story, and it seems that many felt the same.
There is no real storyline here. Perhaps the whole play is dreamt up by Don Quixote while he seeks a new partner to replace Sancho Panza. The Camino Real is a sinister area in which characters from the most romantic works of literature come to die, and be removed by the streetcleaners. It might be said to be a place in the mind rather than an actual location.
Presiding over it all is Gutman, the villain from The Maltese Falcon. He is an appropriate guide, being both cynical and a man who unsuccessfully chased, “The stuff dreams are made of”. Dreams die in Camino Real, and people are forced to accept the harder facts of reality. Like the Gutman of the book, he even finds a patsy.
The pitfalls are death and cynicism. New means of escape are sought, and Casanova tries to settle into a more solid relationship. The leading character (if any) is Kilroy (he of 'Kilroy was here'), a former boxer who has lost his glory. Perhaps he represents America losing its dream, and needing to adapt to the world as it is now.
Kilroy spends his time being humiliated, having a casual dalliance with Esmerelda (from Notre Dame de Paris) and seeking to avoid the street cleaners before escaping with Don Quixote as his new partner. It seems that the only way to stave off disillusionment is to form ties with others.
That is all I can think to say about this peculiar play. It is an interesting attempt to try something new, but sadly I am not sure that Williams pulled it off. Maybe if I continue to read it every few years, more of it will fall into place, and I will lift this rating. For now I am still not impressed.
If only Williams had thought to spend time explaining rather than justifying it. That might have been more use to us. However writers are often the worst people to ask when trying to understand their works.
Williams amusingly tells about a young critic who wrote down a list of the confusingly ambiguous images and cross-examined the dramatist about what they all meant. I would love to have been a fly on the wall at that conversation, as I imagine the poor young man left the conversation no wiser than when he began.
I suspect that the young man’s approach was mistaken because he expected the writer to have a clearly-defined symbolic meaning for everything that happens, whereas Camino Real does not work like that.
Symbolism (contrary to appearances) is actually a plain and straightforward manner of writing. Everything means something else. Work out the key, and the story becomes obvious. However the….I won’t say ‘true artist’ because who am I to define what true art is?....Shall we say the imaginative artist is rarely a mere symbolist. The works may contain symbolism and allegory, but there is usually a sense in which many of the scenes are intended to reflect real experiences, and that is what makes it so confusing.
Camino Real must be accounted a failure for Williams nonetheless. It was panned by critics, and audience members walked out on it. Hence the defensive tone of Williams’ introduction to the play. This is a shame, as Williams claims to have spent considerable time carefully constructing the play.
The problem is that it is too arty and pretentious, and meaning disappears into vagueness. On the whole I’m not a fan of literature where I feel as if I need a literary guidebook to navigate my way through the story, and it seems that many felt the same.
There is no real storyline here. Perhaps the whole play is dreamt up by Don Quixote while he seeks a new partner to replace Sancho Panza. The Camino Real is a sinister area in which characters from the most romantic works of literature come to die, and be removed by the streetcleaners. It might be said to be a place in the mind rather than an actual location.
Presiding over it all is Gutman, the villain from The Maltese Falcon. He is an appropriate guide, being both cynical and a man who unsuccessfully chased, “The stuff dreams are made of”. Dreams die in Camino Real, and people are forced to accept the harder facts of reality. Like the Gutman of the book, he even finds a patsy.
The pitfalls are death and cynicism. New means of escape are sought, and Casanova tries to settle into a more solid relationship. The leading character (if any) is Kilroy (he of 'Kilroy was here'), a former boxer who has lost his glory. Perhaps he represents America losing its dream, and needing to adapt to the world as it is now.
Kilroy spends his time being humiliated, having a casual dalliance with Esmerelda (from Notre Dame de Paris) and seeking to avoid the street cleaners before escaping with Don Quixote as his new partner. It seems that the only way to stave off disillusionment is to form ties with others.
That is all I can think to say about this peculiar play. It is an interesting attempt to try something new, but sadly I am not sure that Williams pulled it off. Maybe if I continue to read it every few years, more of it will fall into place, and I will lift this rating. For now I am still not impressed.
March 26, 2015
I did not read this edition, but will look for it so I can read the new intro by John Guare, and benefit from another perspective. I picked up a used copy that was published in Britain in 1958 (the year I was born, which is what made me decide to buy it), and was surprised to find I was not prepared for the weirdness. Which is funny, because I usually love weirdness, the farther out the better. Mind you, I'm not sorry I read this, quite the opposite. No doubt, like a lot of works that are disturbing when first read, I will end up having affection for it after some time has passed. It is certainly a fascinating peek at the world inside the author's mind at the time of writing it, whatever we may think of that particular landscape!
January 27, 2019
კამინო რიალი,ადგილი, სადაც ლიტერატურული და ისტორიული პირები დაიკარგნენ,დაიკარგნენ და მიეცნენ სასოწარკვეთას.ჩვენც ვიკარგებით,გამუდმებით ვიკარგებით,ვხვდებით იქ,სადაც არაა ჩვენი ადგილი,ისიც არ ვიცით სად უნდა ვიყოთ,გვინდება გაქცევა,მაგრამ ყველა გზა არსაით მიდის.
ძალიან კარგი პიესა,იმაზე თუ როგორ ვიკეტებით ერთ ადგილას,სხვადასვა მიზეზის გამო.ყველა,არა მაგრამ რაღაც ნაწილი მაინც ვცდილობთ(შეიძლება ცდილობს ) გავიაროთ თაღში,იმ გზით წავიდეთ,რომელიც დაღუპვას გვიქადის,მაგრამ მაინც გვიტოვებს გადარჩენის იმედს..იმედს,რომ დონ კიხოტისა და კილროის მსგავსად გავალთ თაღში,და ისე გავაპობთ კლდეს - ჩაკეტილ სივრცეს,როგორც კლდეზე ამოსული ია.
ძალიან კარგი პიესა,იმაზე თუ როგორ ვიკეტებით ერთ ადგილას,სხვადასვა მიზეზის გამო.ყველა,არა მაგრამ რაღაც ნაწილი მაინც ვცდილობთ(შეიძლება ცდილობს ) გავიაროთ თაღში,იმ გზით წავიდეთ,რომელიც დაღუპვას გვიქადის,მაგრამ მაინც გვიტოვებს გადარჩენის იმედს..იმედს,რომ დონ კიხოტისა და კილროის მსგავსად გავალთ თაღში,და ისე გავაპობთ კლდეს - ჩაკეტილ სივრცეს,როგორც კლდეზე ამოსული ია.
March 25, 2025
When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone.
a lot of wasted potential over here, imagine introducing don quixote and not using him until the very end
edit: reread for research, enjoyed it wayyy more than i did the first time around
a lot of wasted potential over here, imagine introducing don quixote and not using him until the very end
edit: reread for research, enjoyed it wayyy more than i did the first time around
March 26, 2022
რამდენად ბევრი კითხვის ნიშნის გაჩენაც ამ პიესას შეუძლია, იმდენად ერთი და კონკრეტული პასუხი აქვს.
აბსურდის და იუმორის ელემენტები უფრო მიმზიდველს ხდიდა ტექსტს, რაც ხანდახან გაურკვევლობაში, ხანდახან კი კლიშეებშიც კი შეიძლება გეგრძნო.
მცირედ-მცირედით თითქმის ყველა დეტალი მომეწონა სიუჟეტში და მაინც სადღაც რაღაც აკლია. ალბათ ამ უკანასკნელი ნაწილის პოვნა „კამინო რიალშია“ შესაძლებელი, სადაც კაცმა რომ თქვას ხადნახან ვცხოვრობთ კიდეც.
აბსურდის და იუმორის ელემენტები უფრო მიმზიდველს ხდიდა ტექსტს, რაც ხანდახან გაურკვევლობაში, ხანდახან კი კლიშეებშიც კი შეიძლება გეგრძნო.
მცირედ-მცირედით თითქმის ყველა დეტალი მომეწონა სიუჟეტში და მაინც სადღაც რაღაც აკლია. ალბათ ამ უკანასკნელი ნაწილის პოვნა „კამინო რიალშია“ შესაძლებელი, სადაც კაცმა რომ თქვას ხადნახან ვცხოვრობთ კიდეც.
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January 10, 2026some say this is one of Williams’s finest works. but not me
October 31, 2019
Surreal play. Little plot. Williams clings to humanism (the characters to hope and tenderness) in cynical times (the atmosphere is desperate and threatening).
October 25, 2011
Desolation Row is one of my favorite songs by Dylan. It's filled with cool allusions to Casanova, Cinderella, Romeo, T.S. Eliot, etc... Having read this, it makes me wonder whether Dylan was aware of this play, or if they just tapped into the same vibe. The difference is that the piled on allusions are quaint in a five minute song, and there's always the music (including the brilliant guitar obligato on the original track, or the wonderful leads by Jerry Garcia on the Grateful Dead's many covers). In a play lasting over two hours, and especially READING the play, and so not having any of the visual embellishment (which I imagine could work well and in a manner similar to the musical embellishment to Dylan's lyrics), the heavy allusions tended to fall a little flat. Thus, I like the idea of Don Quixote dreaming about Kilroy, the Baron de Charlus, Casanova, Lord Byron, et. al. But even over this admittedly short haul, I found it a bit tiresome.
Having said that, I can imagine this being quite fun in production. But I doubt I'll ever get a chance to find out. It's definitely not the kind of thing I see coming to Houston any time soon.
Here are a couple of Desolation Row links, if you are interested.
The Original
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9T0zN...
Grateful Dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeqZl6...
Having said that, I can imagine this being quite fun in production. But I doubt I'll ever get a chance to find out. It's definitely not the kind of thing I see coming to Houston any time soon.
Here are a couple of Desolation Row links, if you are interested.
The Original
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9T0zN...
Grateful Dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeqZl6...
October 18, 2014
If Streetcar is a sublime work of art, then Williams's Camino Real is a profound work of art. Not nearly as accessible as most of his plays, it is still the only one that is as pertinent today as it was when it was performed in the '50s. This is a must read for artists.
October 26, 2022
محاولة مزعجة من تينسي ويليامز لكتابة مسرحية سريالية بالاعتماد على شخصيت أدبية، لقد اعتدت على ويليامز كاتبا لمسرحيات درامية متقنة وان كانت تقليدية في الاسلوب، وهي مسرحيات ممتعة بشكل كبير، لذا لم افهم رغبته في كتابة مسرحية هو غير متمكن من أدواتها ولا تنتمي لعالمه.
January 2, 2015
Sul retro viene detto che questo dramma è come un piccolo occhio di bue, difficile da penetrare, ma una volta che vi si entra si vede tutto in maniera più chiara.
Non so se mi sono anche solo avvicinato alla luce, ma questo copione deve ancora parlarmi, deve farlo con molta più forza di quanto non abbia fatto fin'ora, perché ne ho sentito solo una bozza.
I personaggi sono criptiche manipolazioni dell'epoca in cui sono ambientate le rispettive storie, macchie che servono solo a mostrare i sentimenti reconditi che giacciono nell'inconscio di ogni uomo. D'altro canto, Killroy è una sorta di Deus ex Machina, atto a mettere tutto e tutti in contraddizione.
Cosa sia Camino Real è molto complicato da capire, almeno per me, ma alcune allegorie paiono palesi, talmente tanto che si dubita di aver ragione.
La messa in scena di Williams è sempre ricca di particolari e tende a nascondere,, più che mostrare, richiede una somma attenzione dal pubblico perché grida la volontà di essere interpretata.
Non so se mi sono anche solo avvicinato alla luce, ma questo copione deve ancora parlarmi, deve farlo con molta più forza di quanto non abbia fatto fin'ora, perché ne ho sentito solo una bozza.
I personaggi sono criptiche manipolazioni dell'epoca in cui sono ambientate le rispettive storie, macchie che servono solo a mostrare i sentimenti reconditi che giacciono nell'inconscio di ogni uomo. D'altro canto, Killroy è una sorta di Deus ex Machina, atto a mettere tutto e tutti in contraddizione.
Cosa sia Camino Real è molto complicato da capire, almeno per me, ma alcune allegorie paiono palesi, talmente tanto che si dubita di aver ragione.
La messa in scena di Williams è sempre ricca di particolari e tende a nascondere,, più che mostrare, richiede una somma attenzione dal pubblico perché grida la volontà di essere interpretata.
August 14, 2007
Although it was unsuccessful commercially, this is one of Tennessee Williams's most intriguing plays, set in a limbo where famous characters and familiar Williams archtypes live out their days, trying to find love and avoid ruin. Originally conceived as a one-act, Williams continually revisited the play and expanded it into a full-length drama that had a short run on Broadway in 1953, starring Eli Wallach and directed by Elia Kazan. The published version reflected yet another rewrite that restored to the text many scenes and lines that had been cut by Kazan, which probably helped the dramaturgy, but took out much of Williams's lyricism and passion.
April 7, 2021
I'm at a loss as to how I should react to this play. Didn't hate it, but I definitely didn't love it. Ambivalence is probably the most accurate term.
This is easily one of the most experimental works TW ever produced; it also, apparently, was his favorite of the plays he wrote. Personally, I don't get the appeal. There were some flashes of brilliance (such as the scene with Lord Byron and some of Gutman's speeches), but they were few and far in between. I feel like this would be a much better play to see performed than read. But considering this is TW's least-staged play, I'm pretty sure that won't happen for me anytime soon.
Two (?) stars.
This is easily one of the most experimental works TW ever produced; it also, apparently, was his favorite of the plays he wrote. Personally, I don't get the appeal. There were some flashes of brilliance (such as the scene with Lord Byron and some of Gutman's speeches), but they were few and far in between. I feel like this would be a much better play to see performed than read. But considering this is TW's least-staged play, I'm pretty sure that won't happen for me anytime soon.
Two (?) stars.
June 21, 2015
Agree with the playwright's forward that despite the play's dream-like nature if you meet it halfway you're going to get something out of it. Has something to say about what we really want and how far we are willing to go to get it, how willing to leave things behind, let go of the past, step out into the unknown.Love Tennessee Williams and would especially like to see a production of this r at least will need to read it again a couple times to let the flavors soak into my mind and heart a little more.
August 1, 2016
I loved this story. The plot moves quickly and a reader has little time to get bored. I loved all the hidden references within the story. I will admit it can be a little difficult to get through though and you may need to spend time on the text.
October 10, 2012
A perfect example of the the dream like state Williams can draw so brilliantly from. A timeless tale of horror that I hope I can see performed one day.
February 5, 2022
კამინი რეალი არის ადგილი, საიდანაც გაქცევა ყველას უნდა, მაგრამ ერთეულები გარბიან.
August 16, 2020
Camino Real (1953) by Tennessee Williams is an interesting play.
I love Tennessee Williams’ work but this was not one of my favourites of his. I liked it but I didn’t really understand it. I would imagine it’s fantastic if I got what it was all about but it was going over my head a lot. But for a play, I didn’t really understand I liked it more than I probably should have. I do love Williams’ style of writing so that might have helped. There was as usual great one-liners and a lot of great dialogue. There was a lot of references which were cool, the holding onto humanism I liked and the poetic nature of the work.
However, it didn’t grab me the way other Williams’ works have. I was confused about what was going on a lot of the time. It didn’t feel as conversational and down-to-earth as other works by the author which I liked better. I appreciated that Williams was doing something different and it probably was good but as I said, I didn’t fully get it. This was Williams’ favourite of his works and he often tried to justify it. I love that he stood up for his baby but I can understand why it wasn’t as successful as his other work. It’s very complex. I would imagine it’s very thought-provoking if a reader understands it and I think many readers who are brighter than me will find this amazing. That’s my gut on that. I mean Williams’ work often has a thought-provoking quality to it and I love that but it is often done in a more down-to-earth style. This as I said is complex but I have a feeling for someone who understands it it could be sensational.
It’s one of those plays if you asked me do I like it?, I would say yes. But if you asked me to explain it, I wouldn’t know where to begin. I would imagine in a production it would be amazing but I think I would be sitting in the theatre confused the house down.
But I still love you Tennessee! :-)
I love Tennessee Williams’ work but this was not one of my favourites of his. I liked it but I didn’t really understand it. I would imagine it’s fantastic if I got what it was all about but it was going over my head a lot. But for a play, I didn’t really understand I liked it more than I probably should have. I do love Williams’ style of writing so that might have helped. There was as usual great one-liners and a lot of great dialogue. There was a lot of references which were cool, the holding onto humanism I liked and the poetic nature of the work.
However, it didn’t grab me the way other Williams’ works have. I was confused about what was going on a lot of the time. It didn’t feel as conversational and down-to-earth as other works by the author which I liked better. I appreciated that Williams was doing something different and it probably was good but as I said, I didn’t fully get it. This was Williams’ favourite of his works and he often tried to justify it. I love that he stood up for his baby but I can understand why it wasn’t as successful as his other work. It’s very complex. I would imagine it’s very thought-provoking if a reader understands it and I think many readers who are brighter than me will find this amazing. That’s my gut on that. I mean Williams’ work often has a thought-provoking quality to it and I love that but it is often done in a more down-to-earth style. This as I said is complex but I have a feeling for someone who understands it it could be sensational.
It’s one of those plays if you asked me do I like it?, I would say yes. But if you asked me to explain it, I wouldn’t know where to begin. I would imagine in a production it would be amazing but I think I would be sitting in the theatre confused the house down.
But I still love you Tennessee! :-)
September 26, 2025
A departure from the realistic style in "The Glass Menagerie", "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "A Streetcar Named Desire", "Camino Real" reads like a fever dream - perhaps Don Quixote's fever dream.
Camino Real is a place where literary characters come to get stuck forever, die and be taken away by streetcleaners (while perhaps still dreaming of escape). Casanova's there. So's Esmeralda (probably of Hunchback of Notre Dame fame). So are others. The main character (of sorts) is Kilroy, based on the graffiti meme in World War II - here a former boxer with golden gloves, a lost love and a heart condition, who keeps pawning off his things to a loan shark.
Tennessee Williams calls the play "symbolic". I call it "artsy". The plot, or the little of it that there is, doesn't really make sense. The characters are odd and bear little resemblance to their original versions - I'm pretty sure I understand why people walked out when they first saw it. It's the sort of play that feels very much like it's something while refusing to make sense to a lay audience. Some people love that sort of thing. Me? I'm not a fan.
Camino Real is a place where literary characters come to get stuck forever, die and be taken away by streetcleaners (while perhaps still dreaming of escape). Casanova's there. So's Esmeralda (probably of Hunchback of Notre Dame fame). So are others. The main character (of sorts) is Kilroy, based on the graffiti meme in World War II - here a former boxer with golden gloves, a lost love and a heart condition, who keeps pawning off his things to a loan shark.
Tennessee Williams calls the play "symbolic". I call it "artsy". The plot, or the little of it that there is, doesn't really make sense. The characters are odd and bear little resemblance to their original versions - I'm pretty sure I understand why people walked out when they first saw it. It's the sort of play that feels very much like it's something while refusing to make sense to a lay audience. Some people love that sort of thing. Me? I'm not a fan.
August 1, 2025
I was planning to see the play day after tomorrow. I had bought and read this book in preparation for seeing it performed on stage. I'm glad I read this book and knew why and how it was supposed to be an unconventional play. I have no issues with Tennessee Williams using allegories to convey sensitive and political problems that he faced in his times and which we still confront today in 2025 in America. If he were too direct, he would put himself in harm's way and his dramatic and poetic power would be greatly diminished. My partner had a sudden and unexpected foot pain and I decided to cancel our vacation and donate our Camino Real theater tickets to the Williamstown Theatre Festival. I feel good that another couple get to see the show because I would wish to have seen it on stage too. In life, sometimes we don't get everything. At least, I feel I understand Tennessee Williams' intent. Enjoy the show too if you can.
January 8, 2018
Maybe I am not imaginative enough to see past this pile of confusion. I understand why people would leave their seats and demand a refund as mentioned by Williams himself in the foreword. I did give it a chance and I did try to meet it half way. I wasn’t sure if this is some sort of lower east side tenement neighborhood which also doubled as limbo/ purgatory. I am also assuming it is a figurative representation of our time on earth and each characters serves as an archtype. Unfortunately, I did not understand the whole deal with Esmeralda and the veil. Was that some sort of a Henry V and Kate meeting scene, or a last wish. I also did not understand the golden heart metaphor. Looking forward to deciphering it all, after doing research online. These are my first impressions.
October 1, 2019
I have always liked the poetic vision of Tennessee Williams in his plays. Camino Real is not his best or most well-known play, but I would love to see it performed. Set in what appears to be a Mexican border town, it has a bevy of characters down on their luck, fearful of the street cleaners who dump them in their wheeled garbage cans and cart them off somewhere. We have Kilroy, the callous hotel proprietor Gutman, Don Quixote, Jacques Casanova, the Gypsy and her daughter Esmeralda, and the predatory guards.
February 14, 2021
I didn't care for this allegorical play by Williams even though he thought it was his best. It reminded me of a nursing home full of aging or ailing people who appear to be dying. Some are remembering their youth, while others are trying to escape the home. A few do manage to leave, but do they get to live? One character, named Gutman, appears to represent the nursing home staff with the authority to decide who goes and stays. The nursing services both rich and poor clients, but only the rich get water, food and nice accommodations. I don't think many people will view the play the same way I did, but that is okay. I'm glad I managed to finish right before class began!
August 30, 2024
Literally what was this? It read like a stoned fever dream. It had only the smallest semblance of a plot and I never knew what was going on at any given time. I feel like there was something more I was supposed to get out of this, but I wasn’t smart enough to grasp it. It’s been almost 20 years since I read “Don Quixote,” (okay fine, you got me, since I read the Cliffs Notes for “Don Quixote”) so the whole Don Quixote thing went mostly over my head. Like I literally have no idea what this play was supposed to be. The one cool thing is that now I know the origin of the “Kilroy was here” Easter egg from Looney Tunes.
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April 6, 2023This is an early version of a more famous play from another part of Tennessee Williams’s career. The longer version is just called Camino Real, but here, we spend time with a man tooling around a Mexican town walking down the central street on a night out having little conversations with the people he meets there. There’s some fetishizing Mexico here with Day of the Dead imagery and tourism, but there’s also some little strange moments of connections. The play has an air of symbolism running rampant as every little thing is clearly a little thing.
May 6, 2023
This play is undoubtedly one of the strangest, yet most impactful works that I have read. Tennessee Williams’ writing accesses and represents human nature through profound allegory and symbolism. This play undoubtedly takes careful thought and interpretation to read and understand. However, I would highly recommend it to the reader ready to take on perplexing symbolism and unconventional narrative structure; it is well worth it.
April 12, 2018
A weird play, but interesting enough to keep me reading till the end. Very Kafka-esk, but with a festival flair attached to it. Big. What I'll carry from the play is the sentence I quoted below. It's uttered by Don Quixote at the beginning of the play. What a magnificent line:
"When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone."
"When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone."
December 6, 2024
This was so bizarre and I want to see a Terry Gilliam version of it. I think I’d have gotten more out of it had I experienced it a) in a better mental state b) with some more knowledge about the legendary characters and c) onstage rather than in play format. But it was definitely weird and cool, and even if I was lost at times I still had a good time.
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