A one-act play published in 2002. The date of composition is uncertain.
SYNOPSIS
The play is set in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the weekend before Mardi Gras. The period is “possibly between 1939–41 or alternatively 1945–47.” The action of the play takes place in the interior of a beautifully decorated apartment owned by Candy Delaney, a male trans-vestite. Candy’s apartment is decorated in a Japan-ese style with bamboo furniture, grass mats, and delicate blue and white porcelain bowls. The adja-cent patio garden is also fitted with a Japanese motif: a fish pool, weeping willows, and an arched bridge with paper lanterns.
Scene 1
Candy escorts Karl, a large merchant seaman, into her apartment. She insists that Karl have a look at the Japanese garden. Karl is unimpressed by its Ori-ental finery. Candy shares details about the rOri-ental property she owns in and around the Quarter and about her 17-year relationship, which has just ended. She tells Karl about her upstairs tenants, “a pair of sweet boys from Alabama.” Karl confronts Candy about her sexuality. Candy reminds Karl that they met in a gay bar. Karl asks for a drink and warns Candy that he is not physically attracted to her. Candy clarifies that she would be happy just to have a “true friendship” with Karl. Candy goes into the bedroom to change “clothes and sex.” Candy And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens 23
returns to the living room in drag. Karl is aston-ished by Candy’s beauty. Candy recites a poem written for her by one of her upstairs tenants.
Karl becomes agitated and inquires whether Candy knows any “real” women; he adamantly denies any interest in Candy. Candy suggests they dance. Karl refuses, insisting that he cannot allow himself to forget that Candy is not actually female.
They dance, and Karl tries to leave. Candy makes him an offer: In exchange for his companionship she will provide him with a place to stay in New Orleans, “unlimited credit at every bar in the Quarter,” money, and freedom to come and go as he pleases.
Karl insists that he wants a woman. Candy includes that in her bargain. She informs Karl that all she wants is to lie next to him and “blissfully fall asleep with [his] hand in [hers].” Karl is willing to give Candy what she wants for $20. She places $50 in his wallet and calls her friend Helene, a stripper at a local club. Candy makes arrangements for Helene to stop by for Karl. Karl reminds Candy that she is not getting anything out of this deal. She explains that “getting nothing” is something she is used to.
Karl goes out to the garden, while Candy mixes him another drink. One of the upstairs tenants, a young drag queen in her 20s, Alvin Krenning, arrives at Candy’s door. Alvin has arrived to warn Candy about her new acquaintance: Karl has a rep-utation for being “dirt” and for physically abusing queens in the Quarter. Candy dismisses the warn-ing and throws Alvin out of the apartment.
Scene 2
The location is the same; the time is a half hour later. Candy and Karl are outside in the garden.
Karl slips into the fish pool as he tries to recross the Japanese bridge. Karl enters the apartment wet and cursing. Candy follows him back into the apartment, while trying to silence her giggling upstairs tenants. Candy offers Karl a Chinese robe to change into. Karl disrobes and threatens Candy with physical harm if she approaches him.
Candy ignores his threats, calling him a
“roughtalking two hundred pounds of lonely, lost little boy.” Karl places a call and leaves a message
for Alice “Blue” Jackson, a loose woman he met earlier. Candy implies that she knows Alice. Karl warns Candy not to malign Alice and again threatens to harm her. Candy reiterates that Karl will eventually grow fond of her. Karl goes into the bedroom to get some sleep before Helene, the stripper, arrives.
Scene 3
The location is the same; the time is an early Sun-day morning, one week later. Candy, dressed in drag, sits at the breakfast table having coffee. Karl is sleeping and snoring in the adjacent bedroom.
The other upstairs tenant, a drag queen, Jerry Johnson, enters the apartment without knocking.
Jerry wishes Candy a happy birthday and goes to the bedroom to take a peek at Karl. Jerry and Candy argue over Candy’s state of affairs. Candy explains that she is striving for a life of “dignity”
and permanence. Jerry leaves and slams the door.
Karl rises and enters the kitchen looking for a drink. Candy tries to coax him not to drink.
Alvin stands in the doorway and overhears their argument. Karl confesses that he only returned to Candy because he is out of money. Alvin informs Candy that she has hurt Jerry’s feelings. While Karl is in the bathroom, Alvin explains to Candy that Karl has been “shacked up” with Alice Jackson and has only returned to Candy because Alice threw him out. Candy is outraged and evicts Alvin and Jerry from their apartment.
Candy questions Karl about Alice and his recent whereabouts. She tells Karl about her plans for their future together. Karl demands money from Candy, and when she refuses, he attacks her. Frightened and stunned by Karl’s vio-lent outburst, Candy tells him her money is hid-den in a silver teapot. Karl takes all of Candy’s money from the teapot and leaves. Candy becomes hysterical, screams, and passes out.
Alvin and Jerry rush in to rescue Candy. Finding her unconscious, they fear she is dead. Together they lift her from the floor and carry her to the bed. When she regains consciousness they offer her a glass of brandy. Jerry and Alvin sit beside Candy and try to comfort her, as rainfall can be heard in the distance.
24 And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens
COMMENTARY
And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens, as do many of Williams’s New Orleans–based dramas (such as AUTO-DA-FÉ, A STREETCAR NAMED
DESIRE, and VIEUXCARRÉ), depicts the broken but colorful lives on the fringes of society. The play’s title is a reference to William Shakespeare’s deli-cate and vulnerable outcast king, Richard II (“Pray, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings.” [Richard II 3.2]). Sad Stories is, however, a significant and unique drama within the canon and a profound departure from Williams’s other dramatic works.
Sad Stories features Williams’s most overt depic-tion of gay characters and his most dynamic treat-ment of homosexuality. In sharp contrast to much of contemporary criticism, which has blasted Williams for what has often been seen as his
“coded” or “closeted” treatment of homosexuality, Sad Stories is not a “sentimental apology” (Kahn, 392) but rather a gritty, realistic tale of a vulnerable drag queen who opens her heart and her home to a ruthless drifter.
The three gay characters—Candy, Jerry, and Alvin—form a close-knit community, a “sister-hood” that revolves around Candy’s enchanted Japanese garden. This tranquil, delicate, and pas-tel Eden is a place of beauty and grace, where the monogamous Candy has mourned the loss of her long-term lover after a 17-year “marriage.” Karl, an emissary from the outside world, a coldhearted sailor, slithers into Candy’s world and throws all into disarray. Williams presents the three trans-vestites in such a frank, vulnerable, and endear-ing manner that the predictability of the plot can be overlooked for the sheer value of the tale. This remarkable and radically contemporary work confirms Williams’s position as a visionary and political writer who was profoundly ahead of his time.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens was first produced at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Per-forming Arts in Washington, D.C., in April 2004.
Michael Kahn directed the premiere production.
PUBLICATION HISTORY
And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens was first published in 2002, along with NOTABOUTNIGHTIN
-GALESin Political Stages: Plays That Shaped a Century.
CHARACTERS
Delany, Candy She is an elegant New Orleans
“queen.” Heartbroken and forlorn after ending a 17-year relationship with an Atlanta businessman, Candy pursues a relationship with Karl, a young merchant seaman. Candy dreams of love, security, and a prosperous and happy future with Karl. Karl, who is utterly homophobic, preys upon Candy’s vul-nerability, tenderness, and loving nature. He beats Candy and takes her money. In the end, she is left to grieve with the support of her closest friends, her fellow queens Alvin Krenning and Jerry Johnson.
Johnson, Jerry Jerry is a young drag queen from Alabama living in New Orleans. She shares an apartment in the French Quarter with Alvin Kren-ning, another young drag queen from Alabama.
Their friend and fellow queen Candy Delaney is also their landlady. Alvin and Jerry try to prevent Candy from pursuing a relationship with Karl, an opportunistic and homophobic drifter.
Karl He is a young opportunist merchant seaman who drifts into New Orleans looking for someone to support him. He finds Candy Delaney, an ele-gant drag queen, in a gay bar and accompanies her to her apartment. Karl is cruel and homophobic.
He bullies Candy, beats her, and takes her money.
As does his fellow Merchant Seaman in SOME
-THING CLOUDY, SOMETHING CLEAR, Karl has an unromantic view of love and intimate relation-ships. For them sex is merely a commodity to be bought, sold, and traded.
Krenning, Alvin Alvin is a young drag queen from Alabama. She shares an apartment with Jerry John-son, another young drag queen from Alabama. Their friend and fellow queen, Candy Delaney, is their landlady. Jerry and Alvin try to prevent Candy from pursuing a relationship with Karl, an opportunistic and homophobic drifter. Alvin warns Candy that And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens 25
Karl has a reputation for mistreating and physically abusing queens.
FURTHER READING
Kahn, Michael. “Introduction,” in Political Stages: Plays That Shaped a Century, edited by Emily Mann and David Roessel. New York: Applause Books, 2002.