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Καλοκαίρι και καταχνιά
Η Άλμα, τραγική πουριτανή του έργου, είναι μια δυστυχισμένη κοπέλα, εγκλωβισμένη στα στεγανά ασκητικά πρότυπα της θρησκευτικής της υπερβολής. Δειλιάζει μπροστά στην αντιμετώπιση προσωπικών της τρόμων και συντρίβεται από το βάρος των ανομολόγητων επιθυμιών της. Δεν είναι τυχαίο που ο Ουίλλιαμς τοποθετεί χρονικά το έργο στις αρχές του εικοστού αιώνα (1916) και όχι στην εποχή που το έγραψε: ως και στη υποτιθέμενη φιλελεύθερη Αμερική, η εγκράτεια και η υποκρισία της βρετανικής βικτοριανής εποχής έχει στιγματίσει όλους τους Αγγλοσάξωνες. Έτσι, η Άλμα είναι χαρακτηριστικό δείγμα και θύμα της αξιολύπητης αξιοπρέπειας που διέπει τις μικρές κλειστές κοινωνίες, ενώ ταυτόχρονα είναι σκληρός θύτης των ονείρων και των επιθυμιών της. Γύρω της ένας ολόκληρος μικρόκοσμος κινείται και δρα μέσα στη επαρχιώτικη ραστώνη, τα ασήμαντα νέα, τις μέτριες χαρές και τη διάχυτη θλίψη. Αντίποδας της Άλμας είναι ο νεαρός γιατρός Μπιουκάναν, αλλοτριωμένος όσο και αλλοτριωτικός, το κλασικό αρσενικό του αμερικάνικου Νότου, ένα θλιβερό προϊόν που ζει και αναπαράγει θλιβερά προϊόντα.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1948
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About the author
Tennessee Williams
756 books3,729 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 151 reviews
January 7, 2021
I enjoyed the story and how the author leads you through their emotions and thoughts. The author does a solid job and bringing you into each character and building them up so the reader can identify the why behind their beliefs. I enjoy the author's abilities in how he tells a story through effective storytelling by ensuring a foundation of each character is built first.
July 18, 2024
Summer And Smoke
I have seen and read Tennessee Williams' play "Summer and Smoke" several times over the years and the work has stayed with me. I have reread the play and seen the movie for the first time after reading John Lahr's recent biography, "Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh." (2014)
Williams' play is set in a fictitious small town, Glorious Hill, Mississippi, in the years leading up to WW I. The play tells the story of a failed, unconsummated relationship between Alma Winemiller and John Buchanan. Alma is a singer and the daughter of an aging minister and his deeply emotionally troubled wife. Alma has spent her life devoted to her father, the church, and to performing the parsonage duties that ordinarily would have been the responsibility of the wife. She is sexually repressed, prim, and spinster-like even for a young woman of 25. She suffers from hysteria and insomnia and is increasingly dependent on pills.
Alma has been in love since childhood with her neighbor, John Buchanan who has been raised by his physician father alone after his mother died. John follows his father to become a doctor, but as a young man returning to town he lives a licentious life, full of gambling, drink, and sex with the loose women of the town. In an important scene of the play, John tries to persuade Alma to accompany him to a cheap room at the local casino. She indignantly refuses.
The critical scene of the play occurs when a drunken, dissipated John shows Alma a chart of the human anatomy. (This scene gave the play its original title, "Chart of Anatomy".) John shows Alma the brain the belly, and the lower part: "this part down here is the sex which is hungry for love because it is sometimes lonesome." John says he has fed his desires while Alma has refused to recognize hers. Alma replies that there is something "not shown on the anatomy chart" -- the soul which is "there just the same, yes there". And "it's that that I loved you with -- that." The play proceeds with a role reversal. Alma comes to terms with her body and offers herself to John. John, however, has settled down and is to be married to a younger, more conventional woman. At the end of the play, a saddened but tragically more self-aware Alma offers herself for casual encounters, at best, to travelling salesman and strangers.
The play shows a dualism in the conflict between body and soul or flesh and spirit. The play aims to unite the two as part of a vibrant, full life, something neither of the primary characters are able to achieve. Some readers have criticized the play for talking about the conflict between flesh and spirit as opposed to dramatizing the conflict in action. Williams himself was conflicted about the play and said differing things about it. At one point he said of Alma, "she is my favorite because I came out so late and so did Alma, and she had the greatest struggle." I think Williams was referring to the difficulties both he and Alma faced in recognizing and acting upon their own strong but different sexualities. Williams later became critical of the melodramatic, metaphysical character of "Summer and Smoke". In the mid-1960s, he wrote the work into an essentially different play, "The Eccentricities of a Nightingale." This play focuses much more on Alma than on Alma and John and it markedly softens the dualism of its predecessor. Williams preferred "The Eccentricities of a Nightingale" to its predecessor. I disagree. With its lyricism, passion, and depth, I still love "Summer and Smoke".
Margo Jones directed "Summer and Smoke" in its 1948 Broadway premier. The play competed with Williams' own, " A Streetcar Named Desire" and was not favorably received. In 1952, the play was revived off-Broadway in a production featuring Geraldine Page and directed by Jose Quintero. This production was much more successful. The performance established Geraldine Page's reputation, and she subsequently starred in the 1961 movie version of "Summer and Smoke".
I have enjoyed reading and thinking about this play again and writing about it here. In addition to this edition, the play is available in the first of two Library of America volumes devoted to the plays of Tennessee Williams.
Robin Friedman
I have seen and read Tennessee Williams' play "Summer and Smoke" several times over the years and the work has stayed with me. I have reread the play and seen the movie for the first time after reading John Lahr's recent biography, "Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh." (2014)
Williams' play is set in a fictitious small town, Glorious Hill, Mississippi, in the years leading up to WW I. The play tells the story of a failed, unconsummated relationship between Alma Winemiller and John Buchanan. Alma is a singer and the daughter of an aging minister and his deeply emotionally troubled wife. Alma has spent her life devoted to her father, the church, and to performing the parsonage duties that ordinarily would have been the responsibility of the wife. She is sexually repressed, prim, and spinster-like even for a young woman of 25. She suffers from hysteria and insomnia and is increasingly dependent on pills.
Alma has been in love since childhood with her neighbor, John Buchanan who has been raised by his physician father alone after his mother died. John follows his father to become a doctor, but as a young man returning to town he lives a licentious life, full of gambling, drink, and sex with the loose women of the town. In an important scene of the play, John tries to persuade Alma to accompany him to a cheap room at the local casino. She indignantly refuses.
The critical scene of the play occurs when a drunken, dissipated John shows Alma a chart of the human anatomy. (This scene gave the play its original title, "Chart of Anatomy".) John shows Alma the brain the belly, and the lower part: "this part down here is the sex which is hungry for love because it is sometimes lonesome." John says he has fed his desires while Alma has refused to recognize hers. Alma replies that there is something "not shown on the anatomy chart" -- the soul which is "there just the same, yes there". And "it's that that I loved you with -- that." The play proceeds with a role reversal. Alma comes to terms with her body and offers herself to John. John, however, has settled down and is to be married to a younger, more conventional woman. At the end of the play, a saddened but tragically more self-aware Alma offers herself for casual encounters, at best, to travelling salesman and strangers.
The play shows a dualism in the conflict between body and soul or flesh and spirit. The play aims to unite the two as part of a vibrant, full life, something neither of the primary characters are able to achieve. Some readers have criticized the play for talking about the conflict between flesh and spirit as opposed to dramatizing the conflict in action. Williams himself was conflicted about the play and said differing things about it. At one point he said of Alma, "she is my favorite because I came out so late and so did Alma, and she had the greatest struggle." I think Williams was referring to the difficulties both he and Alma faced in recognizing and acting upon their own strong but different sexualities. Williams later became critical of the melodramatic, metaphysical character of "Summer and Smoke". In the mid-1960s, he wrote the work into an essentially different play, "The Eccentricities of a Nightingale." This play focuses much more on Alma than on Alma and John and it markedly softens the dualism of its predecessor. Williams preferred "The Eccentricities of a Nightingale" to its predecessor. I disagree. With its lyricism, passion, and depth, I still love "Summer and Smoke".
Margo Jones directed "Summer and Smoke" in its 1948 Broadway premier. The play competed with Williams' own, " A Streetcar Named Desire" and was not favorably received. In 1952, the play was revived off-Broadway in a production featuring Geraldine Page and directed by Jose Quintero. This production was much more successful. The performance established Geraldine Page's reputation, and she subsequently starred in the 1961 movie version of "Summer and Smoke".
I have enjoyed reading and thinking about this play again and writing about it here. In addition to this edition, the play is available in the first of two Library of America volumes devoted to the plays of Tennessee Williams.
Robin Friedman
February 9, 2026
Like Ships Passing
A review of the Internet Archive facsimile eBook of the Dramatists Play Service original paperback (1948).
I saw Summer and Smoke in its recent 2026 production at Toronto's Crow's Theatre dir. by Paolo Santalucia and starring Bahia Watson as Alma Winemiller and Dan Mousseau as John Buchanan Jr. With efficient doubling the 7 member cast was able to portray the 14 characters of the playscript.
Curtain call for the cast of the 2026 production of "Summer and Smoke" at Crow's Theatre, Toronto. Images sourced from own photos.
An exuberant and exciting cast delivered a terrific performance of this now mostly forgotten early Williams play which failed on Broadway in its initial run, probably suffering in comparison to A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) which had preceded it. Williams even rewrote it later as The Eccentricities of a Nightingale (1964).
Watson and Mousseau gave thrilling lead performances as unrequited lovers Alma & John, which burned with intensity and repressed desire. They were so convincing that they came across as worthy successors to Blanche & Stanley in Streetcar.... Alma's repression and John's dissolution at the start make a dramatic reversal by the end as their roles become reversed and a promising love never materializes and turns tragic.
Some readings say that Alma's progress is a proxy for Williams own "coming out." Director Santalucia's program note said that: "As a queer writer, Williams understood that love can be a lonely experience — not because no one is there, but because the people who are there can’t meet you at the moment it would matter most. What Williams unearths here — and what makes the play so singular, so poetic — is the quiet sorrow of what postponement does on a person."
My rating is biased due to my live experience, as it definitely came across as a 5-star.
Trivia and Links
I read Summer and Smoke for free via the Internet Archive. That online facsimile eBook from 1948 was 82 pages due to containing advertising for other works. GR lists a more recent edition of 72 pages. NOTE: Pro-tip When reading from the Internet Archive online you must read continuously, or your "borrow" will lapse and you will have to renew it. It is not onerous, but a bit of a nuisance.
Summer and Smoke was adapted as the same titled film (1961) dir. Peter Glenville and starring Geraldine Page, Laurence Harvey and Rita Moreno. A trailer for the film can be seen on YouTube here.
A review of the Internet Archive facsimile eBook of the Dramatists Play Service original paperback (1948).
ALMA: Yes, it had begun early, this affliction of love, and has never let go of me since, but kept on growing. I've lived next door to you all the days of my life, a weak and divided person who stood in adoring awe of your singleness, of your strength. And that is my story! Now I wish you would tell me - Why didn't it happen between us?
I saw Summer and Smoke in its recent 2026 production at Toronto's Crow's Theatre dir. by Paolo Santalucia and starring Bahia Watson as Alma Winemiller and Dan Mousseau as John Buchanan Jr. With efficient doubling the 7 member cast was able to portray the 14 characters of the playscript.
Curtain call for the cast of the 2026 production of "Summer and Smoke" at Crow's Theatre, Toronto. Images sourced from own photos.
An exuberant and exciting cast delivered a terrific performance of this now mostly forgotten early Williams play which failed on Broadway in its initial run, probably suffering in comparison to A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) which had preceded it. Williams even rewrote it later as The Eccentricities of a Nightingale (1964).
Watson and Mousseau gave thrilling lead performances as unrequited lovers Alma & John, which burned with intensity and repressed desire. They were so convincing that they came across as worthy successors to Blanche & Stanley in Streetcar.... Alma's repression and John's dissolution at the start make a dramatic reversal by the end as their roles become reversed and a promising love never materializes and turns tragic.
Some readings say that Alma's progress is a proxy for Williams own "coming out." Director Santalucia's program note said that: "As a queer writer, Williams understood that love can be a lonely experience — not because no one is there, but because the people who are there can’t meet you at the moment it would matter most. What Williams unearths here — and what makes the play so singular, so poetic — is the quiet sorrow of what postponement does on a person."
My rating is biased due to my live experience, as it definitely came across as a 5-star.
Trivia and Links
I read Summer and Smoke for free via the Internet Archive. That online facsimile eBook from 1948 was 82 pages due to containing advertising for other works. GR lists a more recent edition of 72 pages. NOTE: Pro-tip When reading from the Internet Archive online you must read continuously, or your "borrow" will lapse and you will have to renew it. It is not onerous, but a bit of a nuisance.
Summer and Smoke was adapted as the same titled film (1961) dir. Peter Glenville and starring Geraldine Page, Laurence Harvey and Rita Moreno. A trailer for the film can be seen on YouTube here.
October 16, 2013
Summer and Smoke is a play set in Mississippi in the early 20th Century about the conflict between the spiritual and the physical. Alma, the daughter of a minister, had to assume many of the duties in the parish as her mother became mentally ill. Alma, whose name means "soul" in Spanish, is a sensitive, virtuous woman concerned with the spiritual side of life, but sexually repressed.
Her neighbor, John, is a physician and grew up in a home containing his father's medical office. He is very sensual, and spends his time drinking and chasing fast women at the Moon Lake Casino.
Alma and John have an attraction to each other, but totally different lifestyles. John does not think of the spiritual, and shows Alma the anatomy chart of the body hanging in his office asking, "You think you're stuffed with roseleaves?" But Alma has loved him with her soul.
When John goes away to fight an epidemic, he returns with appreciation for the spiritual side of life. Alma, who had been hysterical and repressed, tells John, "But now the Gulf wind has blown that feeling away, like a cloud of smoke." They have been transformed and come full circle. Alma is ready for a relationship, but John is already pledged to another. The author seems to be saying that both the spiritual and the physical are necessary to be a complete person.
The set shows the rectory on one side, and the doctor's office on the other side of the stage. The angel "Eternity" is kneeling in the park in the center, pouring out healing waters needed for both their life on earth, and eternal life.
The play has characters similiar to A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Glass Menagerie with sensitive women, strong sensual men, and characters with mental illness.
Her neighbor, John, is a physician and grew up in a home containing his father's medical office. He is very sensual, and spends his time drinking and chasing fast women at the Moon Lake Casino.
Alma and John have an attraction to each other, but totally different lifestyles. John does not think of the spiritual, and shows Alma the anatomy chart of the body hanging in his office asking, "You think you're stuffed with roseleaves?" But Alma has loved him with her soul.
When John goes away to fight an epidemic, he returns with appreciation for the spiritual side of life. Alma, who had been hysterical and repressed, tells John, "But now the Gulf wind has blown that feeling away, like a cloud of smoke." They have been transformed and come full circle. Alma is ready for a relationship, but John is already pledged to another. The author seems to be saying that both the spiritual and the physical are necessary to be a complete person.
The set shows the rectory on one side, and the doctor's office on the other side of the stage. The angel "Eternity" is kneeling in the park in the center, pouring out healing waters needed for both their life on earth, and eternal life.
The play has characters similiar to A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Glass Menagerie with sensitive women, strong sensual men, and characters with mental illness.
October 15, 2017
Ich habe das Gefühl in Tennessee Williams' Dramen herrscht stets eine unangenehme, schwüle Hitze, die gen Ende entweder durch einen Wolkenbruch oder wie hier mit einem eisigen Dezemberwind aufgelöst wird. - Wahrscheinlich ist es eben diese für mich zur Gewohnheit gewordene Atmosphäre, die ich in seinen Stücken suche und hier zu meiner Freude wieder gefunden habe.
Bereits mit der ersten Szene, der Vorstellung der beiden Hauptcharaktere, war mein Interesse geweckt und ich verschlang mit Vergnügen die Handlung. Zwar wurden meine romantischen Erwartungen nicht erfüllt, worüber ich mich gleichzeitig erleichtert fühle. So mutierte das Drama gerade nicht zu einer schwülstigen Liebesgeschichte mit Hollywood-Happyend. Vielmehr entwickeln sich Alma und John erneut in völlig konträre Richtungen. Sie tauschen sozusagen die Plätze, wobei letztlich die Frage offen bleibt, wer von Beiden als Gewinner hervorgeht, d.h. wer wird mit seinem Leben glücklich und zufrieden sein.
Hervorzuheben ist für mich die Szene, in der John und Alma an der Karte des menschlichen Körpers stehen und hitzig darüber debattieren, wie ihr Körper funktioniert. Es scheint mir der einzige Dialog zu sein, in denen sie frank und frei über ihre wahren Gefühle sprechen und erklären, wie sie den Anderen sehen. In dieser Szene steckt eine faszinierende Intensität, die ich zu gern auf einer Theaterbühne erleben würde.
Bereits mit der ersten Szene, der Vorstellung der beiden Hauptcharaktere, war mein Interesse geweckt und ich verschlang mit Vergnügen die Handlung. Zwar wurden meine romantischen Erwartungen nicht erfüllt, worüber ich mich gleichzeitig erleichtert fühle. So mutierte das Drama gerade nicht zu einer schwülstigen Liebesgeschichte mit Hollywood-Happyend. Vielmehr entwickeln sich Alma und John erneut in völlig konträre Richtungen. Sie tauschen sozusagen die Plätze, wobei letztlich die Frage offen bleibt, wer von Beiden als Gewinner hervorgeht, d.h. wer wird mit seinem Leben glücklich und zufrieden sein.
Hervorzuheben ist für mich die Szene, in der John und Alma an der Karte des menschlichen Körpers stehen und hitzig darüber debattieren, wie ihr Körper funktioniert. Es scheint mir der einzige Dialog zu sein, in denen sie frank und frei über ihre wahren Gefühle sprechen und erklären, wie sie den Anderen sehen. In dieser Szene steckt eine faszinierende Intensität, die ich zu gern auf einer Theaterbühne erleben würde.
February 24, 2018
Yes 5 stars because sometimes you just want to!
It's a beautifully rendered love story with fully developed characters. It's straightforward, focused and touching. Yet there is much to like in the execution: the dialogue is spot on and, for the first time, the stage directions are brilliant in their simplicity, helping me visualise every action. I love how I could care for both Alma and John, they are opposites, so the attraction is strong but the chance of success minimal, yet the journey that unfolds is what counts.
It's a beautifully rendered love story with fully developed characters. It's straightforward, focused and touching. Yet there is much to like in the execution: the dialogue is spot on and, for the first time, the stage directions are brilliant in their simplicity, helping me visualise every action. I love how I could care for both Alma and John, they are opposites, so the attraction is strong but the chance of success minimal, yet the journey that unfolds is what counts.
July 21, 2011
There are some moments where the themes of the play merge with the dialogue. And I don't know if I would like this or not. Even reading it, I felt like I was being hit over the head sometimes. Maybe good actors could pull this stuff off. But I think it would be really hard to do these moments.
But on the whole, the characters in this play are engaging, and they are less of a pure type than other characters. I've read some reviews here comparing Alma to Blanche, and Johnny to Stanley, but I don't think it fits very well at all. I think Alma feels much more real than Blanche ever did. For me, Blanche was always more of an idea than a person. And Johnny has very little in common with Stanley. I could see Brando playing Johnny, but he would come over more like the Brando of Guys and Dolls, than anything out of Streetcar.
I also love the basic idea of this play. The main characters both have an intense spiritual, and a strong sensual side to their personality. They long to be together, but at the start, he is living a life of pleasure, while she has repressed that aspect of her character. Through their interaction, they both switch their personality -- he represses his love of pleasure, while she opens up to hers. And in the process they never actually connect. This sounds like it should be tragic, but I found the ending refreshingly upbeat, at least as far as Tennessee Williams goes. There may not be any hope for Alma and John together, but for these characters there seems to be more to life than just a single fixation.
Good stuff.
But on the whole, the characters in this play are engaging, and they are less of a pure type than other characters. I've read some reviews here comparing Alma to Blanche, and Johnny to Stanley, but I don't think it fits very well at all. I think Alma feels much more real than Blanche ever did. For me, Blanche was always more of an idea than a person. And Johnny has very little in common with Stanley. I could see Brando playing Johnny, but he would come over more like the Brando of Guys and Dolls, than anything out of Streetcar.
I also love the basic idea of this play. The main characters both have an intense spiritual, and a strong sensual side to their personality. They long to be together, but at the start, he is living a life of pleasure, while she has repressed that aspect of her character. Through their interaction, they both switch their personality -- he represses his love of pleasure, while she opens up to hers. And in the process they never actually connect. This sounds like it should be tragic, but I found the ending refreshingly upbeat, at least as far as Tennessee Williams goes. There may not be any hope for Alma and John together, but for these characters there seems to be more to life than just a single fixation.
Good stuff.
August 22, 2025
ENGLISH: This is the second time I've watched this play by Tennessee Williams, in the RTVE archive.
In love with her doctor neighbor since childhood, Alma faces first the disbelief of the man she loves, and then his detachment. I didn't like the ending.
ESPAÑOL: Esta es la segunda vez que he visto esta obra de Tennessee Williams, en el archivo de Estudio-1.
Enamorada desde la niñez de su vecino médico, Alma se enfrenta primero con la incredulidad del hombre que ama, y después con su desapego. No me gustó el final.
In love with her doctor neighbor since childhood, Alma faces first the disbelief of the man she loves, and then his detachment. I didn't like the ending.
ESPAÑOL: Esta es la segunda vez que he visto esta obra de Tennessee Williams, en el archivo de Estudio-1.
Enamorada desde la niñez de su vecino médico, Alma se enfrenta primero con la incredulidad del hombre que ama, y después con su desapego. No me gustó el final.
February 6, 2017
rate 3+
September 24, 2022
If all of these tags applied, why, this coulda been great! After all, Williams had written "Streetcar Named Desire" the year before! What happened? "Summer and Smoke" is pretty much why I don't like stage dramas except for the great ones like Albee's "Virginia Wolf". What's needed here is a big musical number (like Gilligan gave to "Hamlet"), so here goes >>>[orchestra] Da DA da (beat) da DA da [sung:] "Daughter's of preachers and Doctorous leechers. Holiday boxes and fight-to-death coxes. Casinos where virgins give in to our urgins. These are a few of my stoned summer flings!." DA DA DA (beat) DA Da DA (beat) Da DAH DAH DAAAAAH! "When she tokes up, when we coke up, on our crushed RX pills, [they strip naked] we run to the graveyard [loud] and fall to the ground hard [louder] and hump with stoned angels on guard!. I simply surrender [long beat, gentle background drum while the lovers rise and dress] to all my bumped fenders and then I [drumbeat quickens] FEEL [beat/even louder with disco thumps] Love [dancers rise from graves] IFeelLoveIFeelLoveIFeelLove...OOOOOOH...." There, fixed it.
November 5, 2019
Tennessee Williams's plays continue to fascinate me with their wild poetry. Summer and Smoke is the story about the strange love between Alma, a minister's daughter, and John, a physician's son. Alma is strait-laced; and John, debauched. The tension between their two respective ways of life keeps them apart. In time, there a a strange change in their personalities that leads to a surprising ending.
April 8, 2018
One of my top five Tenn plays. Always makes me think of the beginning of autumn, when the days are crisp and regrets felt more keenly. Alma is a vastly under-appreciated Williams heroine, and I would argue she's up there with Blanche and Maggie.
Four stars.
Four stars.
Read
December 10, 2025Джон. Какое это имеет отношение к...Роза. ...к тому, что я хочу тебя в мужья? Ты высокий, от тебя хорошо пахнет, и ты не хрюкаешь, когда мы занимаемся любовью!
Ничего не ждала от этой пьесы, а получила всё и даже больше. История очень тронула, такая пронзительная и удивительно правдоподобная.
April 3, 2021
An intriguing love story, some very lyrical writing. A somewhat lesser work than A Streetcat Named Desire or The Glass Menagerie perhaps, but an enjoyable read nevertheless. On the surface it's rather light-hearted entertainment, but there are the darker themes of drug addiction and mental illness for example, typical of Williams.
May 25, 2025
It has become a summer tradition to buy a used copy of a Tennessee Williams play from the thrift store! I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting…beautiful & haunting. Summer is for reading plays
January 6, 2019
Got hold of this after seeing the play a few days ago (which was amazing). I really love Tennessee Williams and this is him at his best: heartwarming yet tragic, with a brilliantly comic edge.
February 22, 2025
oh i really love this play. amazing commentary on deep loneliness and desperately searchibg for connection and belonging. feels so true and recent to 2025 even tho it was written 50 years ago. HEARTBREAKING. OBSESSED.
June 7, 2025
read in one sitting after midnight. a minor williams work and nonetheless teeming with our most profound and destructive qualities on full display. a play about the tension between the contents of our bodies and the contents of our soul, how to reconcile them and produce that elusive thing of love. loved it
March 17, 2014
تبدو لي أن التيمة المحببة عند تنيسي ويليامز هو الحديث عن الجنس و متعلقاته وهى بصراحة ليست بذات أهمية لدي.. بل أعتبره أكثر الموضوعات إبتذالا .. بالمعنى الأصلي للإبتذال...
هنا طوال الرواية لدينا ابنة القسيس التي تحب ابن الطبيب حبا عذريا و لكن ابن الطبيب لا يفكر سوى في الجنس و بالتالي تختلف الرغبات!
نجد أحيانا ابن الطبيب يحاول الإقتراب من ابنة القسيس ولكن براءتها تصده.. ثم لاحقا نجده يقدسها كإلهة فيقترب من أي فتاة لكنه يخجل من الاقتراب منها... في المقابل ابنة القسيس تظل تحاول ان تجذب الشاب للحب العذري و لكن بلا أمل..
و في النهاية تحدث المفاجاة غير المقنعة بالمرة بأن تصبح الفتاة هى التي ترغب في الجنس و الفتى يرفض هذا بل و يتزوج فتاة أخرى لأن ابنة القسيس أثرت في حياته لدرجة أنه أصبح يحب الفتاة الأخرى حبا عذريا؟!!!!!!!!!!!
وتنتهي الأحداث بسقوط ابنة القسيس مع أول رجل تقابله في الطريق!
فجأة وجدنا الادور اختلفت و فجأة تغيرت الشخصيات!
بصراحة "ما أروع هذا الغثاء!"
أقصد ما الذي أستفيده بعد انتهاء كل تلك الاحداث؟ ألا نرفض الجنس عندما تسنح الفرصة؟؟ أو أننا يجب ان نعيش حياتنا بأقصي درجات المتعة قبل الزواج ثم نستقر و نتزوج و نسير على الصراط المستقيم؟!!
أعتقد أنني اكتفى بهذا القدر للكاتب الأمريكي العظيم !
هنا طوال الرواية لدينا ابنة القسيس التي تحب ابن الطبيب حبا عذريا و لكن ابن الطبيب لا يفكر سوى في الجنس و بالتالي تختلف الرغبات!
نجد أحيانا ابن الطبيب يحاول الإقتراب من ابنة القسيس ولكن براءتها تصده.. ثم لاحقا نجده يقدسها كإلهة فيقترب من أي فتاة لكنه يخجل من الاقتراب منها... في المقابل ابنة القسيس تظل تحاول ان تجذب الشاب للحب العذري و لكن بلا أمل..
و في النهاية تحدث المفاجاة غير المقنعة بالمرة بأن تصبح الفتاة هى التي ترغب في الجنس و الفتى يرفض هذا بل و يتزوج فتاة أخرى لأن ابنة القسيس أثرت في حياته لدرجة أنه أصبح يحب الفتاة الأخرى حبا عذريا؟!!!!!!!!!!!
وتنتهي الأحداث بسقوط ابنة القسيس مع أول رجل تقابله في الطريق!
فجأة وجدنا الادور اختلفت و فجأة تغيرت الشخصيات!
بصراحة "ما أروع هذا الغثاء!"
أقصد ما الذي أستفيده بعد انتهاء كل تلك الاحداث؟ ألا نرفض الجنس عندما تسنح الفرصة؟؟ أو أننا يجب ان نعيش حياتنا بأقصي درجات المتعة قبل الزواج ثم نستقر و نتزوج و نسير على الصراط المستقيم؟!!
أعتقد أنني اكتفى بهذا القدر للكاتب الأمريكي العظيم !
October 20, 2012
My favorite play by Tennesse Williams. You could not find a more fragile and sad and strong at once character than Alma. (Soul). She is in love with a doctor who fancies the superficial life and Alma is a minister's daughter, very prim and proper.
One of the saddest lines in the play is: "The tables have turned, the tables have turned with a vengence."
The doctor and Alma keep missing each other, their paths crossing, but as each represents extremes, they don't catch up until it's too late. Alma comes around to him and his sexuality too late.
The end of the play never stops breaking my heart. She ends up going off with a traveling salesman; her life is over in her mind, so why not give in to all base temptation.
Spectacular!!!!!
One of the saddest lines in the play is: "The tables have turned, the tables have turned with a vengence."
The doctor and Alma keep missing each other, their paths crossing, but as each represents extremes, they don't catch up until it's too late. Alma comes around to him and his sexuality too late.
The end of the play never stops breaking my heart. She ends up going off with a traveling salesman; her life is over in her mind, so why not give in to all base temptation.
Spectacular!!!!!
November 5, 2022
Soul and body fail to connect. It seems they need time to mellow.
May 11, 2020
I need to see if performed, but reading it was painful. I saw where the story was leading after page 4.
August 3, 2019
فلسفة في مسرحية هذا هو ما يُقدمه لنا "تينيسي ويليامز" هنا في الأحداث التي تبدو رومانسية إلا أنها ليست رومانسية على الإطلاق، تجاذب بين فتاة روحانية تمامًا قمعت ودفنت كل رغباتها لأسباب عديدة منها أنها ابنة قس يجب أن تكون حياتها وسلوكها ومظهرًا ملائمًا لتلك البنوة، وأنها المسؤولة عن المنزل وتسيير أموره بعد إصابة والدتها بمرض نفسي وجارها الطبيب الشاب اللاهي الذي لا يعترف بالروح ويؤمن فقط بكل ما هو مادي وما تراه عيناه واحتياجاته الجسدية، تجاذب لا يتم ولا ينجح فقط نُدرك مدى اهتمام كل منهما بالآخر وفي نفس الوقت اعتراض كل منهما على مسلك الآخر وحياته.
ولكن لأن الدنيا لا تبقى على حال تنقلب الأحوال إلى النقيض فيُصبح الروحي مادي والمادي روحي وينتهي الأمر نهاية أحببتها فهي تترك باب الأمل مفتوحًا أمام كلاهما وربما نالا السعادة التي بحثا عنها.
أحببت الرؤية الفلسفية التي طرحها "ويليامز" وأحببت الحوار والرموز في المسرحية.
ولكن لأن الدنيا لا تبقى على حال تنقلب الأحوال إلى النقيض فيُصبح الروحي مادي والمادي روحي وينتهي الأمر نهاية أحببتها فهي تترك باب الأمل مفتوحًا أمام كلاهما وربما نالا السعادة التي بحثا عنها.
أحببت الرؤية الفلسفية التي طرحها "ويليامز" وأحببت الحوار والرموز في المسرحية.
January 24, 2025
“I’m more afraid of your soul than you’re afraid of my body.”
Alma Winemiller, an absolute dream role.
I saw Summer and Smoke on the 10th of January 2019 and I trace it all back to then. That’s when I fell head over heels in love with Theatre. After six years I still think of Patsy Ferran as the most talented stage actor there is out there.
I love it, I love it, I love it.
Alma Winemiller, an absolute dream role.
I saw Summer and Smoke on the 10th of January 2019 and I trace it all back to then. That’s when I fell head over heels in love with Theatre. After six years I still think of Patsy Ferran as the most talented stage actor there is out there.
I love it, I love it, I love it.
March 8, 2020
not my favourite under tennesse williams’s plays, but i’m glad i got to finally know it.
September 23, 2022
love love love
March 23, 2014
صيف و دخان "تينسى وليامز"
تبدأ المسرحية بلوحة بديعة و هو منظر لنافوره يتوسطها ملاك تنسكب من دوق فى يده المياه وتحوى طفليين متجاذبيين , فالحب قد يصيب الصغار أحيانا و لأنهم صغار فهو يشفق عليهم و لا يكشف لهم عن أوجهه المختلفة التى كثيرا منها ما يكون قاسيا. (جون) و(ألما ) جيران يذهبان لنفس المدرسة , تحب (ألما )وجه( جون) الوسيم و شقاوته بينما يحب (جون) فى( ألما) هدوءها و طيبتها معه و لانه طفل لا يجد طريقة ليلفت نظرها الا بمشاكستها و( ألما ) تحب طريقته هذه فى التعامل معها رغم ما يسببه لها من ضيق احيانا .
يكبر الصغار و تصبح (ألما) أكثر جمالا و حنانا و يصبح (جون) اكثر انطلاقا و تحررا. و يتحول التجاذب الى حب بمعناه الصحيح فهما الان يافعان و تبدأ هنا العقدة الرئيسيه للمسرحية و هى ما معنى الحب عند كليهما؟ يتلقى (جون) (بألما) مرات عديدة عند رجوعه الى مدينته بعد دراسته للطب و يتودد اليها من جديد و لكن( جون) الشاب غير (جون) الطفل فما يطلبه من (ألما) الان مختلف انه يطلب منا الحب الجسدى.
و نجد اختلافا بينهما قد يصل الى تضاد حول مفهوم الحب, (فألما) ابنه القس تنعكس تربيها و التزامها الدينى على رأيها فى الحب و تراه طاقة روحية كالدين فهى تؤمن بأن الحب وسيلة لأرتقاء الروح على حدود الجسد , (ألما) تحب (جون) فعلا و لكنه لا تستطيع ان تقدم له اكثر من المشاعر الروحية . أما (جون) الذى قست عليه الحياة مبكرا بموت أمه لا يؤمن بهذا فالحب عند (جون) مرتبط بالجانب المادى منه و يعتقد ان هذه الطريقه هى المثلى للتعبير عنه.
(جون) يحب (ألما) لانه يرى ان لديها من المشاعرالجميلة ما ليس عند غيرها من الفتيات و لكنه يصر على ان يعاملها كغيرها من هؤلاء و (ألما) رغم حبها (لجون) و متابعتها و محاولتها للتود له لا تستطيع ان تستجيب (لجون) كما يريد
بعد فشل (جون) اجتذاب (ألما) لعالمه . تدور بينها مناقشات حول الحب.فنجد ان كليهما له رأى فى الحب ولكن به تطرف..يرى (جون) الطبيب (لالما) رسم تشريحى لجسد الانسان و يريها انه يريد الفكر و الطعام و الجنس و لكن (ألما) تعترض على هذا الرسم لكنه لم يظهر ما تعتقد انه اهم شئ و هو موضع الروح , الروح التى تحب . تكثر المناقشات و المشاحنات بينهما فيبتعد كل منهما عن الاخر لفترة و لكن يظل صدى حوارهما معا يلاحق كليهماا.
يتأثر( جون) و (ألما) كلاهما بالاخر بشدة و خاصة (ألما) التى تبدأ بالتغيير فعليا لترضى (جون) الذى تحبه و لكن الصراع هنا كيف تم هذا التغيير , (ألما) ابتعدت عن (جون) ولم تخبره انها تفكر بما قال او انها قد اقتنعت بشئ منه , (الما )اغلقت على نفسها , و بدأت تتغير و التغيير بطئ بطبعه و خاصة اذا كان هذا التغيير لافكار متجذره فى العقل منذ الطفولة ..و لم يجد (جون) المحب حلا الا الابتعاد عن (ألما) لاعتقاده انها ترفضه ..فالحب انفعال شديد و مربك لا يتثنى له الانتظار و المحب بطبعه يتوقع من من يحبه الكثيرو بسرعه و لهذا كان احباط (جون) كبير كحبه( لألما) . فاقتنع بان هذا الحب لا يصلح الا ان يكون روحيا خالصا فهى ملائكيه و انه لا يستحقها
و تأتى النهاية المفاجئة و هى ان (الما) الان مستعده لان ترضى من تحب (جون) باى وسيله و يتوقع القارئ نهاية سعيدة لقصه الحب الجميله و لكن النهايه الصامده هى ان يتزوج (جون) من (نيلى) تلميذه (الما) الفاشله الساذجه و نجد ان (الما) تتقمص شخصيه (جون) و تقتنع بافكاره و تتجه الى الضياع الحقيقى لتشبع الجسد و فقط
تثير المسرحيه فى نفس القارئ تساؤلات عديدة حول سبب فشل قصه الحب التى بدأت جميله ...منها ..هل ما يحدث هو قدر او هو فشل انسانى مسئول عنه الطرفين ام ان (جون) و( الما) لا يصلح كلاهما للاخر رغم وجود الحب
اعتقد ان الكاتب قصد ان يصدم القراء بهذه النهايه المؤلمه حتى يقول ان فشل قصص الحب المتكرر يحدث عندما لا يراعى احد الطرفين مشاعر و احتياجات الاخر و تملكه الانانيه لارضاء رغباته و فقط و ان على الطرفين ان يتلاقا فى منتصف الطريق.
تبدأ المسرحية بلوحة بديعة و هو منظر لنافوره يتوسطها ملاك تنسكب من دوق فى يده المياه وتحوى طفليين متجاذبيين , فالحب قد يصيب الصغار أحيانا و لأنهم صغار فهو يشفق عليهم و لا يكشف لهم عن أوجهه المختلفة التى كثيرا منها ما يكون قاسيا. (جون) و(ألما ) جيران يذهبان لنفس المدرسة , تحب (ألما )وجه( جون) الوسيم و شقاوته بينما يحب (جون) فى( ألما) هدوءها و طيبتها معه و لانه طفل لا يجد طريقة ليلفت نظرها الا بمشاكستها و( ألما ) تحب طريقته هذه فى التعامل معها رغم ما يسببه لها من ضيق احيانا .
يكبر الصغار و تصبح (ألما) أكثر جمالا و حنانا و يصبح (جون) اكثر انطلاقا و تحررا. و يتحول التجاذب الى حب بمعناه الصحيح فهما الان يافعان و تبدأ هنا العقدة الرئيسيه للمسرحية و هى ما معنى الحب عند كليهما؟ يتلقى (جون) (بألما) مرات عديدة عند رجوعه الى مدينته بعد دراسته للطب و يتودد اليها من جديد و لكن( جون) الشاب غير (جون) الطفل فما يطلبه من (ألما) الان مختلف انه يطلب منا الحب الجسدى.
و نجد اختلافا بينهما قد يصل الى تضاد حول مفهوم الحب, (فألما) ابنه القس تنعكس تربيها و التزامها الدينى على رأيها فى الحب و تراه طاقة روحية كالدين فهى تؤمن بأن الحب وسيلة لأرتقاء الروح على حدود الجسد , (ألما) تحب (جون) فعلا و لكنه لا تستطيع ان تقدم له اكثر من المشاعر الروحية . أما (جون) الذى قست عليه الحياة مبكرا بموت أمه لا يؤمن بهذا فالحب عند (جون) مرتبط بالجانب المادى منه و يعتقد ان هذه الطريقه هى المثلى للتعبير عنه.
(جون) يحب (ألما) لانه يرى ان لديها من المشاعرالجميلة ما ليس عند غيرها من الفتيات و لكنه يصر على ان يعاملها كغيرها من هؤلاء و (ألما) رغم حبها (لجون) و متابعتها و محاولتها للتود له لا تستطيع ان تستجيب (لجون) كما يريد
بعد فشل (جون) اجتذاب (ألما) لعالمه . تدور بينها مناقشات حول الحب.فنجد ان كليهما له رأى فى الحب ولكن به تطرف..يرى (جون) الطبيب (لالما) رسم تشريحى لجسد الانسان و يريها انه يريد الفكر و الطعام و الجنس و لكن (ألما) تعترض على هذا الرسم لكنه لم يظهر ما تعتقد انه اهم شئ و هو موضع الروح , الروح التى تحب . تكثر المناقشات و المشاحنات بينهما فيبتعد كل منهما عن الاخر لفترة و لكن يظل صدى حوارهما معا يلاحق كليهماا.
يتأثر( جون) و (ألما) كلاهما بالاخر بشدة و خاصة (ألما) التى تبدأ بالتغيير فعليا لترضى (جون) الذى تحبه و لكن الصراع هنا كيف تم هذا التغيير , (ألما) ابتعدت عن (جون) ولم تخبره انها تفكر بما قال او انها قد اقتنعت بشئ منه , (الما )اغلقت على نفسها , و بدأت تتغير و التغيير بطئ بطبعه و خاصة اذا كان هذا التغيير لافكار متجذره فى العقل منذ الطفولة ..و لم يجد (جون) المحب حلا الا الابتعاد عن (ألما) لاعتقاده انها ترفضه ..فالحب انفعال شديد و مربك لا يتثنى له الانتظار و المحب بطبعه يتوقع من من يحبه الكثيرو بسرعه و لهذا كان احباط (جون) كبير كحبه( لألما) . فاقتنع بان هذا الحب لا يصلح الا ان يكون روحيا خالصا فهى ملائكيه و انه لا يستحقها
و تأتى النهاية المفاجئة و هى ان (الما) الان مستعده لان ترضى من تحب (جون) باى وسيله و يتوقع القارئ نهاية سعيدة لقصه الحب الجميله و لكن النهايه الصامده هى ان يتزوج (جون) من (نيلى) تلميذه (الما) الفاشله الساذجه و نجد ان (الما) تتقمص شخصيه (جون) و تقتنع بافكاره و تتجه الى الضياع الحقيقى لتشبع الجسد و فقط
تثير المسرحيه فى نفس القارئ تساؤلات عديدة حول سبب فشل قصه الحب التى بدأت جميله ...منها ..هل ما يحدث هو قدر او هو فشل انسانى مسئول عنه الطرفين ام ان (جون) و( الما) لا يصلح كلاهما للاخر رغم وجود الحب
اعتقد ان الكاتب قصد ان يصدم القراء بهذه النهايه المؤلمه حتى يقول ان فشل قصص الحب المتكرر يحدث عندما لا يراعى احد الطرفين مشاعر و احتياجات الاخر و تملكه الانانيه لارضاء رغباته و فقط و ان على الطرفين ان يتلاقا فى منتصف الطريق.
January 18, 2020
They say the opposites attract each other, but can they really stay together? Another of Williams’s heartbreaking love stories. Alma and John grew up together. The play is full of symbolism. Alma is daughter of a priest and represents spirituality and reason, while John, son of a doctor, represents sensuality, physicality and impulsiveness. Alma is soul in Spanish, John stands for the body. The play is (perhaps a bit too much) full of obvious parallel symbolisms - Alma is the angel statue at the garden fountain, John is the anatomical chart in the medical studio. The fountain’s name is “Eternity,” which Alma explains is “what people’s souls live in when they have left their bodies”; John admits that is called “devil” at home.
She has loved him all her life which has brought her to a nervous breakdown, symbolized by her nerve-racking piano playing and effected singing. She cannot bring herself to tell him that, thus pushing him away from her. He keeps asking her “Is it so hard to forget you're a preacher's daughter?", but it seems it is. She is too much of a conformist, too self-conscious, too attentive to what others may say.
A very dramatic event takes place, which will change both of them, their roles will be ironically reversed, but it’s too late now. She finally opens up to him, but he is engaged to another girl.
We’re they too weak, too flawed, too stubborn, to try to make it work? Or did Williams want to say that it’s not enough to be only spiritual/physical - we need both in ourselves.
She has loved him all her life which has brought her to a nervous breakdown, symbolized by her nerve-racking piano playing and effected singing. She cannot bring herself to tell him that, thus pushing him away from her. He keeps asking her “Is it so hard to forget you're a preacher's daughter?", but it seems it is. She is too much of a conformist, too self-conscious, too attentive to what others may say.
A very dramatic event takes place, which will change both of them, their roles will be ironically reversed, but it’s too late now. She finally opens up to him, but he is engaged to another girl.
We’re they too weak, too flawed, too stubborn, to try to make it work? Or did Williams want to say that it’s not enough to be only spiritual/physical - we need both in ourselves.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 15, 2014
I love this story. Out of the Tennessee Williamses that I've read or seen (Streetcar, Glass Menagerie, Eccentricities, this), this is definitely my favorite. The story is beautiful yet, in many places, heartbreaking. I sympathize with Alma so much; she is very like me in many ways. And I just love the way that There's a sort of flow and a feeling of wholeness and finality to the whole thing. It's really just about perfect. And, in the words of my acting teacher, "You can't say Tennessee Williams doesn't know how to write dialogue." Man, the dialogue is good. My review loses a star based on personal preference alone (because the question is "How much did you like this book?" not "How good is it?"); I don't think there is anything I would change about the play.
Notes:
-The Eccentricities of a Nightingale is Williams's rewrite of this. I like Summer and Smoke much better. It's richer, fuller, and just more interesting, though Eccentricities is also good.
-If you are interested, there are many monologues and scenes in here that would be good for classwork.
Notes:
-The Eccentricities of a Nightingale is Williams's rewrite of this. I like Summer and Smoke much better. It's richer, fuller, and just more interesting, though Eccentricities is also good.
-If you are interested, there are many monologues and scenes in here that would be good for classwork.
January 1, 2015
I generally think that Tennessee Williams is one of our greatest playwrights but for whatever reason this one didn't hold my attention, perhaps I just need to see it done rather then reading it, it was meant to be performed after all.
I just never felt like I cared about what happened to the two main characters. Alma's boring and a bit of a hysterical doormat, Johnny is pretty much a stereotypical playboy, throwing away his fathers dreams in order to waste money and philander. Alma's in love with Johnny but they obviously come from two different worlds and don't quite meet up, although by the end of the play they see the value in the others way of looking at life.
The change is sudden, it doesn't feel developed, because it happens completely off stage. Being that several months have passes we have no idea what caused Alma to look at the world differently - with Johnny we can assume it's his father. The ending just felt awkward to me. I'll have to see if I can ever catch it live, it'll probably be completely different.
I just never felt like I cared about what happened to the two main characters. Alma's boring and a bit of a hysterical doormat, Johnny is pretty much a stereotypical playboy, throwing away his fathers dreams in order to waste money and philander. Alma's in love with Johnny but they obviously come from two different worlds and don't quite meet up, although by the end of the play they see the value in the others way of looking at life.
The change is sudden, it doesn't feel developed, because it happens completely off stage. Being that several months have passes we have no idea what caused Alma to look at the world differently - with Johnny we can assume it's his father. The ending just felt awkward to me. I'll have to see if I can ever catch it live, it'll probably be completely different.
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