Summer and Smoke

Summer and Smoke (1948), a play by Tennessee Williams. [Music Box Theatre, 100 perf.] Alma Winemiller ( Margaret Phillips), the prim daughter of the local minister, is at once repelled and fascinated by her handsome, amoral neighbor, Dr. John Buchanan Jr. ( Tod Andrews). She sets about to give him higher moral standards, while he takes it upon himself to teach her the realities of life and sex. Both are all too successful, for John becomes high‐minded and spiritual, while Alma dwindles into the town prostitute. One of Williams's best‐constructed and imaginative plays, it was first seen in Texas in a production directed and produced by Margo Jones. When it moved to Broadway the play was coolly received and failed to run. A successful 1952 revival at the Circle in the Square, with Geraldine Page as Alma, prompted a critical re‐evaluation. Williams's revised version of the play, called The Eccentricities of a Nightingale, was seen briefly on Broadway in 1976 with Betsy Palmer as Alma. Critics could not agree if it was superior or inferior to the original and audiences stayed away. Yet both versions have seen several revivals.