This long-awaited adaptation of Carson McCullers' final novel pulls us into 1950s Georgia, where an elderly Judge takes in an orphan Negro boy, much to the dismay of the small town of Winfree. True to classic Southern drama, there's a reason for the Judge's benevolence that, when threatened with exposure, leads to unspeakable consequences.

Author’s Note:

On September 8, 1982, my friend Tennessee Williams gave me the 1936 Underwood portable typewriter on which this author’s note is being written. Mr. Williams’ only stipulation was that someday I use it to write a play. Considering that the same typewriter was used for “Summer and Smoke” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” I found my friend’s request to be more than reasonable.

Upon his death five-and-a-half months later, I read that Tennessee Williams and Carson McCullers were the best of friends for more than twenty years. As a matter of routine, each would offer the other notes on their works in progress. Mr. Williams helped Ms. McCullers shape “Member of the Wedding” into a critically acclaimed and highly successful Broadway play. Ms. McCullers helped Mr. Williams with “Sweet Bird of Youth” and “Night of the Iguana.”

“Clock Without Hands,” Carson McCullers’ last novel, was written while she was terminally ill. Upon reading the manuscript, Tennessee Williams sent his friend a letter, detailing what changes he felt should be made to the characters and story. Robert Lantz, Ms. McCullers’ literary agent, felt his client was far too frail to read such criticism, even coming from her dear colleague, and never showed her the letter. “Clock Without Hands” was published in 1961 to mixed reviews and is the only work by Carson McCullers that has never been adapted for the stage or screen.

Several years ago, Mr. Williams’ biographer, Donald Spoto, informed me that I might get lucky and find that letter in the archives of the University of Texas at Austin, where most of Tennessee Williams’ manuscripts and personal letters had been donated. He was correct. As a result, twenty-five years after being handed this typewriter, I’ve combined the characters, story, and spirit of Carson McCullers’ final novel with Tennessee Williams’ very specific notes, to create a work that I believe is a compelling portrait of American life in the 1950s...told from the point of view of two of the finest minds to have graced our literary landscape in the last hundred years. I hope you enjoy “Clock Without Hands."