Camino Real

"It had its Broadway premiere on March 19,1953, at the Martin Beck Theatre. The production was directed by Elia Kazan, with the assitance of Anna Sokolow."

Yes, perhaps I'm biased, because I was in this play at my university and so the characters were all too real for me because my friends were playing them, but I really loved this story. The symbolism is just great and there's a lot of food for thought. Many people who came to see our production didn't understand the work, and I must admit, it is obscure and fairly difficult to understand. Don't let that get in your way. This is a must read, if only because of those cooky and creepy street cleaners, and a bunch of cameos by some very famous characters.

Anyone expecting Camino Real to be anything like the other plays Tennessee Williams wrote during the same period, such as Summer and Smoke or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, will be puzzled. This is unlike anything else Williams wrote; it's nonlinear, overtly symbolic, lacking a conventional plot, and filled with images that don't make literal sense even as they speak directly to the subconscious. I think it could be Williams' most brilliant work, but others will prefer his more accessible plays and I don't dispute that. "Camino Real" is unusual and will not be for everyone.In the play Williams deals with end-of-life issues in a very stark way; he also explores how a person's own fears can keep him or her from moving beyond the comfort of the familiar into unknown territory. I have to confess: I read the play after seeing it and being bowled over by the production (at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington), and the question may be whether those who haven't seen it will find it equally powerful just to read it. This is a case where I think they may; the plays' symbols and images come alive in the imagination. Even if you don't like it, you'll find it thoughtful and challenging.

all i have to say is: make voyages, attempt them, there's nothing else

A truly bizarre plot line with equally bizarre settings and character developements. I read this play without completely understanding it (ok, in truth I didn't get it at all), but I think that it deserves further examination.