The Seven Descents of Myrtle

The Seven Descents of Myrtle is a play by Tennessee Williams. It originally began as a short story, which Williams then turned into a one-act play, and then later revised it into the seven-act play that is accepted today. Its title character is reminiscent of another Williams' heroine, Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Originally titled Kingdom of Earth, the serio-comic play focuses on Lot, a tubercular neurotic youth who is an impotent transvestite overly attached to the memory of his late mother. He has returned to his ancestral home, a decaying house on the edge of a river on the verge of overflowing, with his new bride Myrtle, a sometime prostitute and former showgirl, the sole survivor of the Five Memphis Hot Shots. She dwells in a fantasy world of romantic illusions, one of which is to nurse Lot back to health so they can consummate their marriage, but soon discovers Lot only wants to use her to steal the deed to the property from his multiracial half-brother Chicken, who has lived on and farmed the property for years. Once he meets Myrtle, he gets some romantic designs of his own.

The Broadway production was produced by David Merrick and directed by José Quintero. After two previews, it opened on March 27, 1968, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and closed after 29 performances. It starred Brian Bedford as Lot, Harry Guardino as Chicken, and Estelle Parsons as Myrtle. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.

In 1970, the play was adapted to a feature film and released under the title Last of the Mobile Hot Shots (aka "Blood Kin").

A 1975 production in London, at the Greenwood Theatre, starring Marianne Faithfull as Myrtle, was cancelled after just three performances when Ms Faithfull fell ill with peritonitis.

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