Director David Kaplan shares how the vision for the  7th Annual Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis production of “The Rose Tattoo” came to be and what realizing that vision has meant to him.

From the festival website:

The Rose Tattoo is a tale of love, death, and resilience in a downtrodden but hopeful 1940’s immigrant Italian community on the American Gulf Coast.

Introducing the theme of an Italian circus, Kaplan’s take on Williams’ classic features aerialists, animals, singers and musicians. He surrounds Serafina with a dozen circus performers – including a ringmaster, a strongman, aerialists, and clowns – who perform the full text of the play.

“This St. Louis Rose Tattoo is performed in a circus as a circus, the better to share what Williams called his ‘limitless world of the dream,’” said Kaplan. “Live goats, accordions, impassioned acting, a play that celebrates the wisdom of desire. What’s not to like?”

For more information and tickets, visit TWSTL.org.