Thanks for an amazing kickoff!
Williams Under the Oaks and our Stella Shouting Contest, sponsored by the Goldring Family Foundation, was a beautiful day at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. The event was in partnership with The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans.
The Stella Shout is once again a fundraiser for the New Orleans Family Justice Center, a partnership of agencies dedicated to ending domestic violence. The NOFJC provides access to free crisis services and shelter, legal aid, advocacy and case management, trauma counseling, and prevention education. Be sure to donate to this worthy cause! CLICK HERE to donate to the New Orleans Family Justice Center.
DON'T MISS THESE BIG 40th ANNIVERSARY EVENTS!
Wednesday, March 25
7:30 PM – 8:45 PM—Theatre
KIND STRANGER…A MEMORY PLAY—OPENING NIGHT
This critically-acclaimed one-man show explores the life of legendary playwright Tennessee Williams and is adapted directly from his autobiography. Kind Stranger explores Tennessee Williams’ life, his loves, and his art, portraying the troubled but deeply human soul behind some of America’s greatest plays. Rick Simone-Friedland stars as Tennessee Williams with wit and unflinching honesty as he writes his last chapter, revealing how his plays were his life and his life was his plays. Using only his words, Kind Stranger could be called the last Tennessee Williams play.
Conceived and Performed by Rick Simone-Friedland. Adapted and Directed by Steven Simone-Friedland.
Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré, 616 St Peter Street, General Admission - $35; VIP Seating - $50 or VIP Pass. Add-ons: Pre-show dinner at Tableau - $95; After-party at Tableau - $30.
Saturday, March 28
6:30 PM—Special Event
Doors and cash bar at 6 PM
The Last Bohemian Soiree: An Evening with Billy Eichner
Our Last Bohemia Soiree is in the opulent Queen Anne Ballroom at our host hotel. Arrive at 6 PM for drinks and mingling. At 6:30 PM, enjoy some of New Orleans live local music with Chloe Marie. Then prepare for An Evening with Billy Eichner! The actor-comedian-writer-producer will share excerpts from his upcoming audio memoir, Billy on Billy. CBS news correspondent and Broadway playwright Jamie Wax joins the conversation to discuss the voice behind the viral sensation, Billy on the Street, including Billy’s unlikely path to stardom, the artists that inspired him, and the forces that shaped him along the way.
This year’s Soirée is a partner event with the Blue Roses Project, a New Orleans nonprofit dedicated to providing queer artists a platform to develop new plays.
Hotel Monteleone, Queen Anne Ballroom, $50 for reserved seats; $40 or VIP Pass for general admission; $20 student or industry professional.
Saturday, March 28
Doors at 8 PM; Show at 9 PM—Theatre
LADYBEAST PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS
VAUDEVILLE REVIVAL
Vaudeville Revival is an annual LadyBEAST Productions spectacle—one night only, entirely new acts, and never to be repeated. This year’s show celebrates the electric lineage of circus and vaudeville, from historic legends to local heroes and international stars. Audiences can expect high-flying trapeze, iron jaw, cowboy antics, true clowning, comedy, and jaw-dropping variety, alongside tributes to the trailblazers who built these art forms and the artists boldly reinventing them today.
Vaudeville Revival is part of the Tennessee Williams Festival’s 40th Anniversary marquee events. Presented as part of this landmark celebration, the show honors New Orleans’ theatrical legacy through daring, dangerous, and gloriously alive circus and variety performance. Vaudeville Revival is not a nostalgia act, it is a living, breathing spectacle. A reminder that circus is not frozen in time, but evolving, dangerous, funny, and fiercely alive. One night. New acts. A living spectacle. 21 and older, please.
The Joy Theater, 1200 Canal Street, $100 for VIP Cocktail Seating; $35 for General Admission. Not available with VIP Pass.
Get your LitPass for the 2026 Festival NOW!
Gain access to entertaining and enlightening panels and conversations for readers and writers by authors, scholars, historians, publishers, and other literary and theater professionals. Topics include contemporary issues, historical interests, genre-based discussions, Southern and New Orleans-based topics, as well as panels on the life, work, and study of Tennessee Williams.
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Thanks to NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC and travel writer Kristin Braswell for including TWFest and SASFest in this list of renowned literary festivals! We're so excited to be named alongside some top-tier literary festivals from around the globe.
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