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27 Wagons Full of Cotton and Other Plays
The thirteen one-act plays collected in this volume include some of Tennessee Williams's finest and most powerful work. They are full of the perception of life as it is, and the passion for life as it ought to be, which have made The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire classics of the American theater.
Only one of these plays ( The Purification ) is written in verse, but in all of them the approach to character is by way of poetic revelation. Whether Williams is writing of derelict roomers in a New Orleans boarding house ( The Lady of Larkspur Lotion ) or the memories of a venerable traveling salesman ( The Last of My Solid Gold Watches ) or of delinquent children ( This Property is Condemned ), his insight into human nature is that of the poet. He can compress the basic meaning of life―its pathos or its tragedy, its bravery or the quality of its love―into one small scene or a few moments of dialogue.
Mr. Williams's views on the role of the little theater in American culture are contained in a stimulating essay, "Something wild...," which serves as an introduction to this collection.
Only one of these plays ( The Purification ) is written in verse, but in all of them the approach to character is by way of poetic revelation. Whether Williams is writing of derelict roomers in a New Orleans boarding house ( The Lady of Larkspur Lotion ) or the memories of a venerable traveling salesman ( The Last of My Solid Gold Watches ) or of delinquent children ( This Property is Condemned ), his insight into human nature is that of the poet. He can compress the basic meaning of life―its pathos or its tragedy, its bravery or the quality of its love―into one small scene or a few moments of dialogue.
Mr. Williams's views on the role of the little theater in American culture are contained in a stimulating essay, "Something wild...," which serves as an introduction to this collection.
238 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1945
41 people are currently reading
505 people want to read
About the author
Tennessee Williams
755 books3,716 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 41 reviews
April 4, 2020
Think of all the oddly placed Shakespeare adaptations -- Richard III in a 1930s Fascist state: Romeo and Juliet in a modern day South Beach, or on NY's upper west side; The Tempest in space (Forbidden Planet); Macbeth in feudal Japan (Throne of Blood). And that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of odd off-Broadway productions where the director had an "idea." Many of these are truly awful, but for some reason it's tremendously easy to imagine Shakespeare in other places and at other times.
Which gets me to Tennessee Williams. I tend to like him. But reading these one act plays, for some reason it struck me how bound they seem to be to the American South in the blues/jazz era. That's how particular his work seems to me. When I think of his plays, I feel sweat. I see beads of water rolling down the outside of a glass with some sickly sweet liquor in it. Everything is both languid and intense. His characters tend to cry out for more shade.
The plays here are one acts. They came across to me as sketches, usually character sketches. And there's nothing wrong with that. There were at least three, and maybe more, takes on Blanche Dubois, refracted in different ways. For the most part, these plays seemed more like character reveals than truly dramatic. I may have been missing something, and might think differently about them if I saw them performed. But I didn't see all that much in the way of motion or momentum in the majority of them. And the characters, for the most part, seemed to me like revamps of characters I had already seen in his other plays. Thus, reading them didn't do all that much for me. But then again, reading really is a bad way to get introduced to plays. The sad thing is that there is basically little, or no, opportunity to see any of these things performed. That I would probably like.
Which gets me to Tennessee Williams. I tend to like him. But reading these one act plays, for some reason it struck me how bound they seem to be to the American South in the blues/jazz era. That's how particular his work seems to me. When I think of his plays, I feel sweat. I see beads of water rolling down the outside of a glass with some sickly sweet liquor in it. Everything is both languid and intense. His characters tend to cry out for more shade.
The plays here are one acts. They came across to me as sketches, usually character sketches. And there's nothing wrong with that. There were at least three, and maybe more, takes on Blanche Dubois, refracted in different ways. For the most part, these plays seemed more like character reveals than truly dramatic. I may have been missing something, and might think differently about them if I saw them performed. But I didn't see all that much in the way of motion or momentum in the majority of them. And the characters, for the most part, seemed to me like revamps of characters I had already seen in his other plays. Thus, reading them didn't do all that much for me. But then again, reading really is a bad way to get introduced to plays. The sad thing is that there is basically little, or no, opportunity to see any of these things performed. That I would probably like.
January 25, 2018
I've previously read and loved Tennessee Williams' work, so when I saw this interesting title, I knew I had to pick it up. But this being a library issue, I couldn't finish it. I could only read the first 7 out of the 13 plays, but I loved most of them, and think it deserves 3.8★
This is a book of small plays, mostly one act ones, divided into various scenes. Most of the plays are characteristically poetic, however quite varied in subject and have been united only on the basis of being one act plays, perhaps, because I found no other connecting thread.
All these plays are woven around only a handful of characters, sometimes, only 2-3 of them, and sometimes include more in secondary roles and hence are very character driven.
1. 27 Wagons full of cotton- it is the first and title play of the collection and has some of the strength of A Streetcar named Desire. It tells the story of a cotton gin owner who commits arson on a factory to get more consignment and how his wife has to pay for that crime. I loved the writing and execution, I just didn't like the fact that the play ends without the husband coming to know of his wife's battery.
2. The Purification- it is a very lyrical and musical play centred on a family ravaged by incestuous passions, leading to the murder of the daughter of the family by her husband who cannot stand her brother's and hers passion for each other. The play constitutes a community trial of the husband and while the verdict is given, it appears that he evades it. The ending is quite unclear, actually.
3. The Lady of Larkspur Lotion- it reminded me of O. Henry's short stories with its conception and execution, with the high handed, emotional and dreamy use of language by the character of the aspiring author. It talks about dreamy characters who escape the realities of their lives by addiction and continue to dwell in poverty.
4. The Last of My Solid Gold Watches- it is a sad tale about a man's glorious career and life coming to an end and his inability to cope with that. But it also critiques the old generation's criticism of the new.
5. Portrait of a Madonna- it is centred on a senile, old spinster who fancies herself to have been raped by a former lover. It again throws light on the difficulties of old age and is a good creation.
6. Auto-Da-Fé- it is the story of a mother and son, both ravaged by nervous problems, to which a mysterious letter with lewd pictures, a possibility of lawful conviction etc are added, leading to the nervous breakdown of the son, bringing doom to the household.
7. Lord Byron's Love Letter- it is about two women, a grandmother and her granddaughter, living in an old family residence that houses a love letter written by Lord Byron to the grandmother that they display to public on request, for a charge. It is hilarious in some parts, with the older woman's behaviour and a little disheartening as the couple to come to see the letter leave without paying. But the end reveals the letter to be just by her grandfather.
I'm just waiting to get my hands on it again so that I can devour the rest of the plays. Recommend it to everyone interested in drama.
This is a book of small plays, mostly one act ones, divided into various scenes. Most of the plays are characteristically poetic, however quite varied in subject and have been united only on the basis of being one act plays, perhaps, because I found no other connecting thread.
All these plays are woven around only a handful of characters, sometimes, only 2-3 of them, and sometimes include more in secondary roles and hence are very character driven.
1. 27 Wagons full of cotton- it is the first and title play of the collection and has some of the strength of A Streetcar named Desire. It tells the story of a cotton gin owner who commits arson on a factory to get more consignment and how his wife has to pay for that crime. I loved the writing and execution, I just didn't like the fact that the play ends without the husband coming to know of his wife's battery.
2. The Purification- it is a very lyrical and musical play centred on a family ravaged by incestuous passions, leading to the murder of the daughter of the family by her husband who cannot stand her brother's and hers passion for each other. The play constitutes a community trial of the husband and while the verdict is given, it appears that he evades it. The ending is quite unclear, actually.
3. The Lady of Larkspur Lotion- it reminded me of O. Henry's short stories with its conception and execution, with the high handed, emotional and dreamy use of language by the character of the aspiring author. It talks about dreamy characters who escape the realities of their lives by addiction and continue to dwell in poverty.
4. The Last of My Solid Gold Watches- it is a sad tale about a man's glorious career and life coming to an end and his inability to cope with that. But it also critiques the old generation's criticism of the new.
5. Portrait of a Madonna- it is centred on a senile, old spinster who fancies herself to have been raped by a former lover. It again throws light on the difficulties of old age and is a good creation.
6. Auto-Da-Fé- it is the story of a mother and son, both ravaged by nervous problems, to which a mysterious letter with lewd pictures, a possibility of lawful conviction etc are added, leading to the nervous breakdown of the son, bringing doom to the household.
7. Lord Byron's Love Letter- it is about two women, a grandmother and her granddaughter, living in an old family residence that houses a love letter written by Lord Byron to the grandmother that they display to public on request, for a charge. It is hilarious in some parts, with the older woman's behaviour and a little disheartening as the couple to come to see the letter leave without paying. But the end reveals the letter to be just by her grandfather.
I'm just waiting to get my hands on it again so that I can devour the rest of the plays. Recommend it to everyone interested in drama.
November 9, 2024
27 WAGONS FULL OF COTON and other plays-TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
✒️"In my opinion art is a kind of anarchy, and the theater is a province of art."
UVOD
🎭Tenesi Vilijams se umetnošću buni protiv stegnutosti i ograničenja.
🎭Trinaest jednočinki u kojima se vidi sva raznolikost i bogatstvo ali i svo sivilo propadajućeg Juga Amerike.
🎭Ponešto neujednačene,ali ima ovde izvanrednih bisera.
🎭27 WAGONS FULL OF COTTON je drama koja otvara zbirku,i ovde je i propadanje jednih i uspon novih vrednosti.
🎭Something Unspoken-drama koja zatvara zbirku govori o ponosu i prestižu,i o neizrecivim i nepremostivim razlikama
✒️"GRACE: Music? Dishonest?
CORNELIA: Completely! It “smooths things over” instead of —speaking them out . . .
GRACE: “Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast.”
CORNELIA: Yes, oh, yes, if the savage breast permits it."
🎭Između su dve meni najupečatljivije drame. THE LONG GOODBYE govori o čoveku koji poslednji zatvara vrata jednog života koji više ne postoji.
🎭This Property Is Condemned
Najpotresnija drama,po mom mišljenju. Kroz razgovor dečaka i devojčice spoznajemo svu tragiku života i smrti,i borbe za opstanak.
✒️"You’re the only star
In my blue hea-ven
And you’re shining just
For me!"
#7sensesofabook #tennesseewilliams #27wagonsfullofcotton
✒️"In my opinion art is a kind of anarchy, and the theater is a province of art."
UVOD
🎭Tenesi Vilijams se umetnošću buni protiv stegnutosti i ograničenja.
🎭Trinaest jednočinki u kojima se vidi sva raznolikost i bogatstvo ali i svo sivilo propadajućeg Juga Amerike.
🎭Ponešto neujednačene,ali ima ovde izvanrednih bisera.
🎭27 WAGONS FULL OF COTTON je drama koja otvara zbirku,i ovde je i propadanje jednih i uspon novih vrednosti.
🎭Something Unspoken-drama koja zatvara zbirku govori o ponosu i prestižu,i o neizrecivim i nepremostivim razlikama
✒️"GRACE: Music? Dishonest?
CORNELIA: Completely! It “smooths things over” instead of —speaking them out . . .
GRACE: “Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast.”
CORNELIA: Yes, oh, yes, if the savage breast permits it."
🎭Između su dve meni najupečatljivije drame. THE LONG GOODBYE govori o čoveku koji poslednji zatvara vrata jednog života koji više ne postoji.
🎭This Property Is Condemned
Najpotresnija drama,po mom mišljenju. Kroz razgovor dečaka i devojčice spoznajemo svu tragiku života i smrti,i borbe za opstanak.
✒️"You’re the only star
In my blue hea-ven
And you’re shining just
For me!"
#7sensesofabook #tennesseewilliams #27wagonsfullofcotton
August 8, 2017
Interesante obra de teatro corta del mismo autor de un tranvía llamado deseo. Como no he leído mucho este generó he preferido empezar con algo corto y la verdad es que la experiencia me ha gustado. No descarto embarcarme en algo de mayor envergadura ;)
June 22, 2018
You want some dreamers? You've got it: "The Lady of Larkspur Lotion." How about a doomed romance? You've got that, too: "Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen." You need sadism? mendacity? Southern gothic crassness? There's the titular play for all of that and more. In short, every one of Williams' signature elements appears here in short form via a one-act play. In a way, it's like a collection of snackable versions of his masterpieces plus a couple of oddballs to boot.
September 2, 2016
3 1/2 stars
April 28, 2020
first off, i love tennessee williams with all of my heart. he is my favorite play write!!! i really enjoyed this compilation of some of his shorter plays. there was 13 in total (give or take)?? i mostly enjoyed them all. my favorites include: “27 wagons full of cotton,” “Portrait of a Madonna,” “Auto-Da-Fé,” “Lord Byron’s Love Letter,” “Hello from Bertha,” and “This Property is Condemned.” I noticed that Tennessee Williams LOVES a good damsel in distress character. so many of these plays have female characters who just kinda live in a dream world (much like blanche in streetcar). they seem so airy and disconnected from the real world. no hate towards that, just an observation! the only thing i didn’t looove about this book was that it felt kind of confusing at times to read a 10 page play and then immediately read another play with a different plot and set of characters. sometimes things got intertwined in my head but all in all i did enjoy my time with this book!
May 15, 2021
This collection of one-act plays includes some rather weak and uninspired ones (The Lady of Larkspur Lotion, Lord Byron's Love Letter) but also some quite excellent works (27 Wagons Full of Cotton, The Strangest Kind of Romance, Hello From Bertha). The Purification, Williams' only verse play, is also interesting; a dream-like, fateful story of murder and incest with a chorus and a guitar-player, though it does turn unintentionally comical in its emulation of Ancient Greek tragedy.
All the typical elements of Williams' better-known works are here; these works are often dark, featuring grotesque characters and tragic situations, but there's also lots of humour in most of these plays. I love how Williams is on the side of the marginalized (the mentally ill, the homosexual, the prostitutes, alcoholics etc.). A very humane and entertaining author.
All the typical elements of Williams' better-known works are here; these works are often dark, featuring grotesque characters and tragic situations, but there's also lots of humour in most of these plays. I love how Williams is on the side of the marginalized (the mentally ill, the homosexual, the prostitutes, alcoholics etc.). A very humane and entertaining author.
May 6, 2024
I was pretty much knocked out when I came across this audio version of 13 one act plays by Tennessee Williams. Unfortunately, it turned out to one man reading all the parts (with a slightly different voice for the female parts) and actually speaking out the name of the person speaking before delivering each line. One can imagine how annoying that might be after a while. I didn’t make it through many of the plays before giving up and deciding reading might be better than listening in this case. I am still a little puzzled by the why of this approach, but guess there must be a reason.
January 29, 2025
Shockingly Good and Odd.
🖊 27 Wagons Full of Cotton by Williams, T 01 February 1966 is an excellent story, even though it is a little creepy with the relationship with the girl. It goes to show you some people have always been strange.
📕Published in 1945.
From My Desk in My Private Library at Crystal Lake:
જ⁀🔵 E-book version on Internet Archive.
✴︎⋆✴︎⋆✴︎⋆✴︎
🖊 27 Wagons Full of Cotton by Williams, T 01 February 1966 is an excellent story, even though it is a little creepy with the relationship with the girl. It goes to show you some people have always been strange.
📕Published in 1945.
From My Desk in My Private Library at Crystal Lake:
જ⁀🔵 E-book version on Internet Archive.
✴︎⋆✴︎⋆✴︎⋆✴︎
July 5, 2025
Not quite consistent enough to be as great a collection as a few of the others in this series, but Williams is quite good at one-acts and short plays and many of these works are quite good, and not only the ones included in the original volume 27 Wagons Full of Cotton (the early 70s political parable The Demolition Downtown finds Williams experimenting with writing clipped sentences in a fashion that would obsess him in some of the plays of the era; reviled and ridiculed at the time, some of these experiments have been recuperated by critics and scholars in recent years). Other highlights include The Lady of Larkspur, The Strangest Kind of Romance, and Something Unspoken.
November 18, 2019
As always I adored Tennessee’s writing. Some plays in this collection, like This Property is Condemned, The Purification, and The Long Goodbye, were fantastic. For the most part the plays were enjoyable, but I didn’t love The Last of My Solid Gold Watches and Lord Byron’s Love Letter. Overall a great collection
February 25, 2021
This book is full of sexual content with no reasonable purpose, I'm not against sexual content but I need to see a reasonable purpose for this.
To be honest, I didn't even like it at all, it's just like opening a porn book or sth.
To be honest, I didn't even like it at all, it's just like opening a porn book or sth.
January 13, 2020
Classic Tennessee Williams. Despair, decay, no hope. But always worth reading just not in concentrated doses.
April 25, 2020
My favorites were the last two, the beautiful Talk to me like the rain ... and let me listen, and Something Unspoken
Want to read
April 23, 2025Coach Ewing performed this in Forensics in 1985.
September 22, 2025
Favorite Quote = “You’re burning the candle at both ends, Kid . . . (He moves from the table across the room.) And in my humble opinion the light ain’t worth it.”
August 5, 2008
A collection of 13 one-act plays, including some of Williams' most famous, such as "The Last of my Solid Gold Watches" and the titular "27 Wagons Full of Cotton"
"Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen" is a favorite as well, but I especially like "The Purification"
Tennessee Williams is fantastic and his plays are just as engaging to read as to see performed, which definitely cannot be said of all playwrights.
The collection has an introduction by Williams' that is a short essay on his views about contemporary grass roots thater in America; he seems to be espousing that a sort of careless creative freedom is more necessary in socially potent art than high production values.
"Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen" is a favorite as well, but I especially like "The Purification"
Tennessee Williams is fantastic and his plays are just as engaging to read as to see performed, which definitely cannot be said of all playwrights.
The collection has an introduction by Williams' that is a short essay on his views about contemporary grass roots thater in America; he seems to be espousing that a sort of careless creative freedom is more necessary in socially potent art than high production values.
August 4, 2007
نمایش نامه ی 27 واگن بار پنبه را به فارسی دیده ام. بسیاری از کارهای تنسی ویلیامز، از جمله نمایش نامه های تک پرده ای و کوتاهش در دهه ی سی، بعد از کودتا به فارسی ترجمه و اجرا شده. گویا آن زمان قرار بوده فرهنگ آمریکایی و انگلیسی جای فرهنگ و زبان فرانسه را که از دوران مشروطه در ایران معمول بود، بگیرد. یک آمریکایی هم بود که نامش را درست بخاطر ندارم (دکتر کویین بی؟) که در دانشکده ی ادبیات، انگلیسی تدریس می کرد، و برخی از آثار تنسی ویلیامز و آرتور میللر را در تالار فردوسی روی صحنه آورد، تقریبن بانی گروه تیاتر دانشگاه تهران شد، رکن الدین خسروی و حمید سمندریان هم در برخی کارها با او همکاری داشتند. اجرای این آمریکایی از "نگاهی از پل" اثر آرتور میللر را بصورتی مبهم به یاد دارم.
October 23, 2014
Obviously with a collection of short plays there's gonna be some hits and misses, but there's enough good stuff in this that I highly recommend it. This Property is Condemned is heartbreaking, 27 Wagons is disturbing, and The Demolition Downtown was a big surprise, since it felt almost sci fi. I wasn't wild about The Last of My Solid Gold Watches or Steps Must be Gentle, but the writing was interesting enough that I stayed engaged throughout.
December 3, 2011
27 Wagons Full of Cotton, The Purification, The Lady of Larkspur, Lotion, The Last of My Solid Gold Watches, Portrait of a Madonna, Auto-Da-Fe, Lord Byron's Love Letter, The Strangest Kind of Romance, The Long Good-bye, Hello from Bertha, This Property Is Condemned, Talk to Me Like the Rain..., Something Unspoken, The Unsatisfactory Supper, Steps Must be Gentle, The Demolition Downtown
January 9, 2012
Short plays which are occasionally a bit more sketches than I would prefer. but there's still some quite strong writing involved. The best of the bunch are the stories 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and The Last of My Solid Gold Watches. Have to think about the rest.
These short plays have Tennessee Williams' name written all around them. Very recognizable, the athmosphere is there all right.
These short plays have Tennessee Williams' name written all around them. Very recognizable, the athmosphere is there all right.
February 1, 2007
The first time I read this book I was in high school and it has stayed with me ever since. One play in particular, "Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen." As a Williams play, it's subtext is thick and weighty, it's nameless protagonist desperate like the rest of them.
March 20, 2007
I got sent to the principal's office freshman year for reading this instead of "At Risk" (the book about the little girl who gets AIDS from a blood transfusion) in my English class. WTF?
August 7, 2007
Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen is another of my favorite plays of all time. Love it.
August 14, 2007
I'm a bit biased, since I acted in this. Still, I absolutely love the plot and the characters are incredible.
September 25, 2007
GREAT!! dark southern gothic one-acts. the title play is spectacular.
October 25, 2007
The best thing to read on mass transit. One act plays, who would have thought. It's like I'm at the theater everyday, and I'm not talking about my people's chariot co-pilots.
February 29, 2008
27 Wagons is my absolute favorite Williams peice. It is dark, sad and desperate. What more southern drama do you need? Oh and the female lead is called Babydoll. Need I say more.
October 6, 2008
"This Property is Condemned" is my all-time favorite short.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews