The Night of the Iguana
is a stageplay written by American author Tennessee Williams. Based on Williams' 1948 short story, the play premiered on Broadway in 1961. Two film adaptations have been made, including the Academy Award-winning 1964 film of the same name.
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THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA TICKETS
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Plot
In 1940s
Mexico, an ex-minister, Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon, has been locked out of his church after characterizing the Occidental image of God as a "senile delinquent," during one of his sermons. Shannon is not de-frocked, but rather institutionalized for a "nervous breakdown."
Some time after his release, Rev. Shannon obtains employment as a tour guide for a second-rate travel agency. Shortly before the opening of the play, Shannon is accused of having committed a
statutory rape of a sixteen-year old girl, named Charlotte Goodall, who is accompanying his current group of tourists.
As the curtain rises, Shannon is arriving with a group of women at a cheap hotel on the coast of Mexico that had been managed by his friends Fred and Maxine. The former has recently died, and Maxine Faulk has assumed sole responsibility for managing the establishment.
Shannon, in the middle of another nervous breakdown, tries to manage not only his tour party, who have turned against him for entering into sexual relations with the minor, but also Maxine, who is interested in him for purely carnal reasons. Adding to this chaotic scenario, a strangely virginal spinster, Hannah Jelkes, appears with her moribund grandfather, Nonno, who, despite his severe "decrepitude", is in the midst of composing his last poem.
Hannah, who barely scrapes by as traveling painter and sketch artist, soon finds herself at the end of her rope, that is to say, at Maxine's mercy. Shannon, who wields considerable influence over Maxine, offers Hannah shelter for the night. The play's main axis is the development of the deeply human bond between Hannah and Shannon, whose names even resemble each other.
Like the Iguana, captured and tied to a pole by the Mexicans in the play, they have come to the end of their rope. This metaphor is intensified when Shannon tears at his golden cross on his neck, lacerating himself, as if to free himself from its constraints.
Minor characters in the play include: a), a group of German tourists whose Nazi marching songs paradoxically function to lighten the heavier themes of the play, and yet cast us deeper into human suffering as they remind us of the horrors of World War II, b) the Mexican "boys" Maxine employs to help run the hotel who comically ignore her laconic commands, c) and Judith Fellowes, the "butch" vocal teacher charged with Charlotte's care during the trip. The latter is one of Williams few overtly lesbian characters (see A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur by Williams, in which a love triangle among three women is the play's sole interest).
Original Broadway stage production
The play premiered on Broadway at the
Royale Theatre on December 28, 1961, and ran for 316 performances. It starred
Patrick O'Neal as Rev. Shannon,
Bette Davis as Maxine and
Margaret Leighton as Hannah. It also featured
Alan Webb,
Louis Guss,
Bruce Glover and
James Farentino. The production was directed by
Frank Corsaro and was nominated for a
Tony Award for Best Play. Leighton won the
Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
Film versions
The 1964 film version was directed by
John Huston and starred
Richard Burton as Rev. Shannon,
Ava Gardner as Maxine and
Deborah Kerr as Hannah. It also featured
Sue Lyon,
Cyril Delevanti,
Grayson Hall (who received an
Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance) and Barbara Joyce (later an acclaimed artist). The screenplay was written by Huston and
Anthony Veiller.
The film won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design (B&W), and in addition to Ms. Hall's nomination, was also nominated for Cinematography (by
Gabriel Figueroa) and for Art Direction. The film removed the Nazi tourist characters from the original stage version.
There was a 2000 Serbo-Croatian film version that was directed by
Janusz Kica.
More stage productions
A 1976 Broadway revival at the
Circle in the Square Theatre featured
Richard Chamberlain as Rev. Shannon,
Dorothy McGuire as Hannah and
Sylvia Miles as Maxine. The Circle in the Square Theatre also staged a 1988 revival starring
Nicolas Surovy as Rev. Shannon,
Maria Tucci as Maxine and
Jane Alexander as Hannah.
In 1996, a Broadway revival was directed by
Robert Falls featuring
William Petersen as Rev. Shannon,
Marsha Mason as Maxine and
Cherry Jones as Hannah. This was based on a 1994 production staged by the
Goodman Theatre in Chicago.
In London, a 1992 production at the
Royal National Theatre featured performances by
Alfred Molina as Rev. Shannon and
Eileen Atkins as Hannah. This production was directed by
Richard Eyre.
A critically acclaimed 2006 London production at
Lyric Theatre starred
Woody Harrelson as Rev. Shannon,
Clare Higgins as Maxine and
Jenny Seagrove as Hannah.
Music
The Night of the Iguana
is also the title of a song by
Joni Mitchell from her 2007 album,
Shine. It is a thematic and lyrical adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play.
de:Die Nacht des Leguan
fr:La Nuit de l'iguane
he:??? ????????
sv:Leguanens natt