Tennessee Williams meets Saul Bass

6 posters for 6 Tennessee Williams plays

influenced by the imagery of Saul Bass
A student project, part of my B.A. (2011-2012) for AKTO (Middlesex University) College.

williams glass Menagerie Tennessee Streetcar desire Cat roof rose tattoo saul bass

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) is an American playwright and novelist , the most important -along with Arthur Miller- representative of postwar American scene.

In many of his works, he was inspired by his own family for the development of his characters. The alcoholic father had increasingly brutal behavior towards his children. His mother had aspirations as a refined lady of the high society in the South raising a suffocating atmosphere. Williams was very close to his sister Rose, who at a young age learned she was suffering from schizophrenia and spent much of her life in psychiatric clinics. In an effort to combat her illness, parents agreed to lobotomize her in 1937. Tennessee deeply shocked from this fact, never forgave his parents and blamed himself, thinking he could have prevented the disastrous fate of his sister. Her illnes probably contributed to his alcohol dependence, but there was probably genetic predisposition as he suffered from depression.

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Saul Bass (1920-1996) studied graphic arts and began his career working in advertising. During the '50s and '60s he made a turn to the movies and worked with acclaimed directors such as Alfred Hitchcock,
Stanley Kubrick, Otto Preminger and Billy Wilder.

He believed that the titles of the films should be enriched "with a perfectly simple and metaphorical image, that would also be challenging" and of course he wanted his work to be an integral part of the film. With a very simple and direct way Bass carries the main theme of each film, by using forms and typography. The spiral in Vertigo (1958) captures the anxiety and obsession with a woman. The title and illustration of a severed silhouette in the poster for Anatomy of a Murder (1959) blend harmoniously, while making wordplay. In 1954 he became the first title designer whose name is mentioned in the film contributors.

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My Goal through this project is the deep conceptual analysis through visualization. Williams has outlined perfectly the idiosyncrasy of his characters, so my job was to gather some basic themes of each play and imprint them on paper. At that stage, the first artist that came to my mind was Saul Bass, with whose work I am familiar due to my love for cinema. What fascinates me is the directness, simplicity and conciseness in his works. I considered very fitting the mating of Williams's sensibility and Bass's aesthetic.

.... enjoy !! and remember to click on the titles if you want to learn more about each play

A Streetcar named Desire

sketches

central themes

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hidden passion

poor neighborhood

secrets and lies

alcoholism

powerful man ≠ weak woman
imagination ≠ reality
intense eroticism

main poster & plot synopsis poster

The Rose Tattoo

sketches

central themes

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rose
in memory of the deceased
intense religious ethos
sensuality
poor community
dynamic woman

main poster & plot synopsis poster

The Glass Menagerie

sketches

central themes

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fragile personality
social isolation
psychological impasse
dull reality ≠ imaginary world
overprotective mother
incomplete family
life with restrictions