On Sunday, March 17 at 2 pm, the beloved Stella Shouting Contest will take place in Jackson Square.
The Stella Shouting Contest replays the iconic scene where Stanley yells up to Stella in the play, A Streetcar Named Desire. Actors Alexandra Daddario (The White Lotus) and Leslie Castay (both currently filming Mayfair Witches) will be there to judge, with Bryan Batt hosting and Errol Laborde as contest emcee. Acting duo Beth Bartley d’Amour and Todd d’Amour will portray Stella and Stanley. The event is sponsored by a generous grant from The Goldring Family Foundation.
The contest will be a fundraiser for the New Orleans Family Justice Center, a network of agencies assisting anyone affected by domestic violence. The Festival is happy to partner with the NOFJC as the beneficiary of the fundraiser, as well as to promote the new suicide hotline, 9-8-8, to bring attention to services available to people experiencing domestic violence or a mental health crisis.
The Stella Shouting Contest is free and open to the public. Those interested in participating in the contest should arrive 15 minutes early and sign up.
The Stella Shouting Contest kicks off The Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival, which is in its 38th year of celebrating contemporary literature, theatre, New Orleans culture, and, of course, Tennessee Williams. Festival dates are March 20 – 24.
Speakers include Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Cunningham, National Book Award-winner Justin Torres, and multi-award winning novelist Colm Tóibín. Visit the Festival website at www.tennesseewilliams.net for the full speaker roster of award-winning writers, fresh new voices on the literary scene, and many New Orleans authors.
Also during the Festival weekend, March 22-24, Saints and Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival (SAS) celebrates its 21st year of writer’s craft sessions, author readings, literary panels, and special events. Visit sasfest.org for more details.
Festival Tickets are on sale now. VIP Passes and LitPasses to the panels are available, as well as individual event tickets. Prices for most individual events range from $10 to $45. For more information, visit tennesseewilliams.net. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @TWFestNOLA.
The Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival is supported by a Community Arts Grant made possible by the City of New Orleans, the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council. Support is also provided by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Orleans Theatre Association, which supports performing arts throughout the Greater New Orleans area, The Academy of American Poets, The Historic New Orleans Collection, The Helis Foundation, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Foundation.
