Provincetown‘s Tennessee Williams Theater Festival Announces Final Fall Festival, Plans Future “Pop-Up” Events
PROVINCETOWN, MA – The Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival will present its final full-scale fall festival September 25-28, 2025, artistic director David Kaplan announced in a recent interview with Arts Fuse. the decision, signaled by the festival’s title, “last Call,” is not due to financial hardship, but a purposeful choice to conclude a specific format while maintaining a presence through future, smaller-scale productions.
unlike many theater companies reliant on grants and critical acclaim, Kaplan emphasized the festival’s longstanding independence. “We do what we do because of the audience,” he stated. “We’ve never been supported by the grant organizations. We’ve never depended upon reviews. We do not buy into political agendas.” Kaplan intends to avoid a “greatest hits” retrospective, opting rather for a robust final season before transitioning to “pop-up” events in Provincetown and potentially internationally, including Mexico.
The festival has distinguished itself through risk-taking and a dedicated community, existing alongside similar Williams festivals in St. Louis and New Orleans. Kaplan is currently working on a book exploring the intersection of Tennessee Williams and science fiction, stemming from research conducted during the 2023 season. He is also directing Listen to Me, a play by Gertrude Stein, envisioned as a circus production featuring live horses and Kathleen Turner in the role of Stein.
Robert Israel can be reached at risrael_97@yahoo.com.
