Rose Tattoo - Argosy Players

Argosy Players May 2004 show was
The Rose Tattoo
By Tennessee Williams - Directed by Keith French - At the Compass Theatre - Ickenham

About The Author :-
One of America’s greatest playwrights, Tennessee Williams wrote fiction and motion picture screenplays, but he is acclaimed primarily for his plays — Many of which are set in the Southern USA. He won two Pulitzer Prizes and will be cheifly remembered for The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending and Night of the Iguana.

About The Play :- Set in a Sicilian community on the gulf coast, the play reflects Williams' admiration of the warmth and lustiness of the Italian people.
The Rose Tattoo is the tale of Serafina, an inconsolable Sicilian-American widow who finds consolation with a man whose magnificent body is topped off, as she complains, by "the head of a clown."
Williams creates-a world in which a husband's tattoo appears on his wife as a sign that she's conceived a son; in which the husband is resurrected; in which their daughter falls in love with a sailor who preserves her virginity. And why does the sailor do this - well you'll have to read on below or come along to find out.

The Main Characters

Serafina Delle Rose - A 30ish Sicilian American widow, still mourning 3 years after the death of her lorry driver husband Rosario. Described as “a plump little Italian opera singer in the role of Madame Butterfly”. She works as a seamstress, has black hair and a voluptuous figure she struggles to keep in check by a tight girdle !

Rosa Delle Rose - Serafina’s daughter, who first appears as a pretty and vivacious girl of 12 and later as a radiantly beautiful 15 year old young woman on the verge of her first love affair.

Alvaro Mangiacavallo - A 25 year old lorry driver whose chance arrival at Serafinas house changes her whole life. He is dark and good looking with a massively sculptural torso, of a Mediterranean type that resembles glossy young bulls !

Jack Hunter - The late teens/early 20’s sailor boyfriend of Serafina who she meets at a school dance. He wears a gold earring and a “tight” Navy uniform, but unusually for a sailor he is still a virgin.

Other Characters

Estelle Hohengarten - A Blackjack dealer who unbeknownst to Serafina had a year long affair with Rosario before his death. A thin blonde woman whose hair has an unnatural gloss

Assunta - An old woman of the community who practices a simple sort of medicine and is a friend to Serafina

Bessie and Flora - 2 middle-aged good time party girls. Flora is tall and angular, Bessie is rather stubby. They have a good scene with Serafina when they come to pick up a polka dot blouse she has made

Miss Yorke - A spinsterish schoolteacher of indeterminate years

The Strega - The local madwoman, with a mop of wild grey hair

Giuseppina, Peppina, Violetta, Mariella, Teresa - Housewives and mothers of the community.

Salvatore, Vivi, Bruno - Their children

Father De Leo - The parish priest. Could be any age but probably older

The Doctor - Again could be any age

The Salesman - A fat man in a seersucker suit and a straw hat !


			Hillingdons Foremost Theatre Group

		Argosy Players May 2004 show was The Rose Tattoo By Tennessee Williams - Directed by Keith French - At the Compass Theatre - Ickenham About The Author :- One of America’s greatest playwrights, Tennessee Williams wrote fiction and motion picture screenplays, but he is acclaimed primarily for his plays — Many of which are set in the Southern USA. He won two Pulitzer Prizes and will be cheifly remembered for The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending and Night of the Iguana. About The Play :- Set in a Sicilian community on the gulf coast, the play reflects Williams' admiration of the warmth and lustiness of the Italian people. The Rose Tattoo is the tale of Serafina, an inconsolable Sicilian-American widow who finds consolation with a man whose magnificent body is topped off, as she complains, by "the head of a clown." Williams creates-a world in which a husband's tattoo appears on his wife as a sign that she's conceived a son; in which the husband is resurrected; in which their daughter falls in love with a sailor who preserves her virginity. And why does the sailor do this - well you'll have to read on below or come along to find out. The Main Characters Serafina Delle Rose - A 30ish Sicilian American widow, still mourning 3 years after the death of her lorry driver husband Rosario. Described as “a plump little Italian opera singer in the role of Madame Butterfly”. She works as a seamstress, has black hair and a voluptuous figure she struggles to keep in check by a tight girdle ! Rosa Delle Rose - Serafina’s daughter, who first appears as a pretty and vivacious girl of 12 and later as a radiantly beautiful 15 year old young woman on the verge of her first love affair. Alvaro Mangiacavallo - A 25 year old lorry driver whose chance arrival at Serafinas house changes her whole life. He is dark and good looking with a massively sculptural torso, of a Mediterranean type that resembles glossy young bulls ! Jack Hunter - The late teens/early 20’s sailor boyfriend of Serafina who she meets at a school dance. He wears a gold earring and a “tight” Navy uniform, but unusually for a sailor he is still a virgin. Other Characters Estelle Hohengarten - A Blackjack dealer who unbeknownst to Serafina had a year long affair with Rosario before his death. A thin blonde woman whose hair has an unnatural gloss Assunta - An old woman of the community who practices a simple sort of medicine and is a friend to Serafina Bessie and Flora - 2 middle-aged good time party girls. Flora is tall and angular, Bessie is rather stubby. They have a good scene with Serafina when they come to pick up a polka dot blouse she has made Miss Yorke - A spinsterish schoolteacher of indeterminate years The Strega - The local madwoman, with a mop of wild grey hair Giuseppina, Peppina, Violetta, Mariella, Teresa - Housewives and mothers of the community. Salvatore, Vivi, Bruno - Their children Father De Leo - The parish priest. Could be any age but probably older The Doctor - Again could be any age The Salesman - A fat man in a seersucker suit and a straw hat !