Tennessee Williams had a distinct talent for writing short plays and, not surprisingly, this remarkable new collection of never-before-published one-acts includes some of his most poignant and hilarious characters: the indefatigable, witty and tough drag queens of <em>And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens...</em>; the strange little man behind the nom de plume <em>Mister Paradise</em>; and the extravagant mistress who cheats on her married man in <em>The Pink Bedroom</em>. Most were written in the 1930s and early 1940s when Williams was already flexing his theatrical imagination. Chosen from over seventy unpublished one-acts, these are some of Williams's finest; several have premiered recently at The Hartford Stage Co., The Kennedy Center, the Manhattan Theatre Club and the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. Included in this volume:<ul><em></em> <li><em>These Are the Stairs You Got to Watch</em></li> <li><em> Mister Paradise</em></li> <li><em> The Palooka</em></li> <li><em> Escape</em></li> <li><em> Why Do You Smoke So Much, Lily?</em></li> <li><em> Summer At the Lake</em></li> <li><em> The Big Game</em></li> <li><em> The Pink Bedroom</em></li> <li><em> The Fat Man's Wife</em></li> <li><em> Thank You, Kind Spirit</em></li> <li><em> The Municipal Abattoir</em></li> <li><em> Adam and Eve on a Ferry</em></li> <li><em> And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens...</em></li></ul>Long associated with Williams, acclaimed stage and film actors Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson provide a fresh and challenging foreword for actors, directors, and readers.