NEWSLETTER
Based on Tennessee Williams’ MEMOIRS
Adapted and Directed by Steven Simone-Friedland, Conceived and Performed by Emmy® Award Winner Rick Simone-Friedland
New York, N.Y. (July 16, 2025) – Theater for the New City, Crystal Field (Artistic Director) presents Kind Stranger…a memory play based on Tennessee Williams’ MEMOIRS, adapted for the stage and directed by Steven Simone-Friedland. Conceived and performed by Emmy® Award-winner Rick Simone-Friedland, five performances will be staged from August 24-September 3, 2025, as part of the Dream Up Festival 2025 at Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, New York, NY 10003.
Kind Stranger depicts the poignant journey of Tennessee Williams as the legendary playwright recounts his life, art, and love affairs. Witness his wit and unflinching honesty as he writes his last chapter, revealing how his plays were his life and his life was his plays. Adapted directly from his memoir and using only his words, Kind Stranger could be the last original Tennessee Williams play.
Steven and Rick Simone-Friedland, a gay married couple, say they both went into the project wanting to use the words and humor of one of the greatest American playwrights as the foundation of this play.
“Tennessee Williams’ memoir tells us exactly what his take was on his plays, his art and his life. You can’t do any better than that,” says director and playwright, Steven Simone-Friedland. “His unflinchingly honest reflections show an artist who questioned his craft, and I think that for any artist, that is a constant struggle. I find it strangely comforting to see someone as renowned as Mr. Williams struggle with those same uncertainties.”
“I just wanted to find a way to play Blanche DuBois,” adds performer Rick Simone-Friedland.
The runtime is approximately 75 minutes with no intermission.
Performances are Sunday, August 24 at 5:00 p.m.; Monday, August 25 at 6:30 p.m.; Friday, August 29 at 6:30 p.m.; Monday, September 1 at 9:00 p.m.; and Wednesday, September 3 at 9:00 p.m.
General admission tickets are $20 (plus a $3 convenience fee). For tickets, visit: TheaterForTheNewCity.net
Direct ticketing link: https://ci.ovationtix.com/
MEET THE CAST AND CREATIVES
Rick Simone-Friedland (Concept & Performer) is an Emmy Award winner known to television audiences for his work on “Married People,” “Just the Ten of Us,” “A Year in the Life,” “Life Goes On,” “KC Undercover,” and as Joe Pistone in the Discovery series “Mob Scene.” Theater audiences may know Rick from his roles in George C. Wolfe’s production of The Me Nobody Knows, Ken Page’s production of Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens, or as Bruno in the Theater West production of Moose On The Loose. Rick recently completely filming roles in “How Do You Fall Out of Love With Country Music,” “Boystown” and “Some Sorta Queer.”
Steven Simone-Friedland (Adaptation & Direction) is an independent, freelance filmmaker residing in Los Angeles, California. He has directed, written, produced and edited a number of short film and television projects including “[sic];” “Togetherness;” and “Sunday Cup of Coffee.” As an editor, Steven edited the feature documentaries, “The Yes Men Are Revolting” and the feature film, “Donner Pass,” as well as television pilots, “Group” and “Techno 3.” When not pursuing film & TV projects, Steven serves as series editor on such Bravo shows as “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” “Salt Lake City,” “Orange County” and “Dubai;” “Vanderpump Rules;” “Below Deck;” “Family Karma;” MTV’s “Siesta Key” and HBO’s “Queen of Versailles Reigns Again.” Steven’s Los Angeles theater directing credits include critically acclaimed productions of Ourselves Alone, Oleanna, Betrayal, Scenes of an American Life, and Imagining Rachel, which received its World Premiere at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Tennessee Williams (Author) was born in 1911 in Columbus, Mississippi, where his grandfather was the Episcopal clergyman. When his father, a travelling salesman, moved with his family to St Louis some years later, both he and his sister found it impossible to settle down to city life. He entered college during the Depression and left after a couple of years to take clerical job in a shoe company. He stayed there for two years, spending the evenings writing. He entered the University of Iowa in 1938 and completed his course, at the same time holding a large number of part-time jobs of great diversity. He received a Rockefeller fellowship in 1940 for his play Battle of Angels, and he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for A Streetcar Named Desire and in 1955 for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Other plays include Summer and Smoke, The Rose Tattoo, Camino Real, Baby Doll, The Glass Menagerie, Orpheus Descending, Suddenly Last Summer, The Night of the Iguana, Sweet Bird of Youth, and The Two-Character Play. Tennessee Williams died in 1983.
About University of the South - Tennessee Williams’ Estate
The University of the South, a national ranked liberal arts college and Episcopal seminary, is the beneficiary of the Tennessee Williams’ estate, including the copyrights to all his works. This gift was made as a memorial to Williams’ grandfather, the Reverend Walter E. Dakin, who studied at the University’s seminary in 1895. The Walter E. Dakin Memorial Fund is used to support the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Sewanee Young Writers’ Conference, and the School of Letters. The Fund also supports scholarships for students who wish to pursue creative writing and fellowships which are granted annually to budding playwrights or authors. Those fellows include Ann Patchett, Claire Messud, Tony Early, and Mark Richard. The Tennessee Williams Center.
August 24-September 1, 2025 (5 Performances)
Sunday, August 24 at 5:00 p.m.
Monday, August 25 at 6:30 p.m.
Friday, August 29 at 6:30 p.m.
Monday, September 1 at 9:00 p.m.
Wednesday, September 3 at 9:00 p.m.
Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue, New York, NY 10003
General Admission Tickets are $20.00. (plus $3 fee)
For tickets, visit: www.TheaterForTheNewCity.net
Direct ticketing link:
https://ci.ovationtix.com/35441/production/1245043
Runtime: 75 Minutes with no intermission
Click here for the media kit.
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