Show Info
TitleAnd Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens (Iowa Director Festival)
PlaywrightTennessee Williams
DirectorMichael C. Flores
Stage ManagerEmma Merkes 
CategoryMainstage, Thayer Theatre
First RehearsalDecember 2
Load In/Tech /DressJanuary 29-February 5
PerformancesFebruary 6-8 & 13-15
Roles to be castAge (Presentation)Gender (Presentation)Description
CANDY DELANEY20s, 30sMale Identifying, Nonbinary A wealthy, flamboyant, and successful New Orleans interior decorator and drag queen who rents out the upstairs of her home to Alvin and Jerry. Candy is on the rebound from a 17-year long relationship when she meets Karl, a sailor she picks up at a gay bar. 
KARL 20s, 30s, 40sMale Identifying A sailor who Candy picks up at a gay bar and brings home. Karl is initially ill-at-ease with fraternizing with Candy but is transfixed by her charm. On her birthday, he walks out on her. 
JERRY20sAny Gender Identity, Non-BinaryA gay man from Alabama who rent the upstairs of Candy’s building.
ALVIN20sAny Gender Identity, Non-BinaryA gay man from Alabama who rent the upstairs of Candy’s building.
SynopsisHaving a “weakness for youth,” Candy’s romantic partner of seventeen years has left her alone to manage her life as a respected landlord and drag queen. With her thirty-fifth birthday looming, Candy seeks out love in all the wrong places, willing to do anything to rekindle the love she lost.
Notices

This show will return early from winter break for rehearsals beginning on Tuesday, January 14.

Candy will undergo a transformation into drag during the performance.

Alvin and Jerry will also perform in drag, with movement during the play. These roles demand a strong sense of movement and agility.

Content Advisory: This production includes depictions of homophobia, sexual content, and hate crime. Please refer to the breakdown for further detail.

Fight Breakdown

PageStage Directions/ Planned ActionCharacter(s)Notes
218

[Karl continues snapping his fingers closer to Candy’s face]

CANDY: Why are you snapping your fingers in my face? 

KARL: The loot, give me the loot, I’m going. 

CANDY: Where?

KARL: Alice’s. We spent her month’s allowance and that is why I come back here for one night only. 

CANDY: You will stay here  or get nothing.

KARL: You give me the wrong answer, fruit cup. 

[Karl knocks her around, first lightly, then more severely. Candy’s sobbing turns to stifled outcries.]

KARL: Where do you keep it, where do you keep your loot, come on before I demolish you and the whole fucking pad!?

CANDY [at last]: Teapot, the—silver teapot. 

[Karl helps himself to a thick roll of greenbacks in the teapot and starts out]

KARL: Fill it back up. I might drop here again the next time I ship this town. [he exits]

[Candy has fallen to her knees, but she crawls after him with surprisingly rapidity, shrieking his name over and over and louder and more piercingly each time. Jerry and Alvin burst in just as Candy topples lifelessly forward onto her face with a last strangulated outcry.]

Karl and CandyAt the end of this moment, Jerry and Alvin rush in to help her out. 
Important Dates/Holidays12/1 Advent Begins, 1/14 Mahayana New Year, 1/14 New Year (Orthodox), 1/14 Tamil Thai Pongal Day, 1/14 Makar Sankranti, 1/18 Bodhi Day, 1/20 Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Observed), 1/21 Spring Classes Begin, 1/27 Lailat al Miraj*, 1/29 Seol-nal, 1/29 Chinese New Year (Year of the Snake), 1/29 Tet Nguyen Dan, 1/29 Tsagaan Sar, 2/2 Groundhog Day, 2/9 Superbowl, 2/11 Thaipusam, 2/12 Magha Puja Day, 2/14 St. Valentine's Day, 2/14 Lailat al Bara*, 2/15 Nirvana Day

Callback List

Please fill out our callback survey before the end of your callback: https://uiowa.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9RVLEoOGIXXe1HE 

& Tell Sad Stories for the Death of Queens

Cast List

Please know we return from Winter break a week early for rehearsals (Jan. 14th-19th).

& Tell Sad Stories for the Death of Queens Cast List

Contact

Emma Merkes, Stage Manager: emma-merkes@uiowa.edu

Abbie Talken, Assistant Stage Manager: abbie-talken@uiowa.edu