Editing Summer and Smoke (section)

== Production history ==
On 6 October 1948, after an opening run in Dallas, Texas, ''Summer and Smoke'' received its first Broadway performance at the [[Music Box Theatre]] in New York City in a production staged by [[Margo Jones]] and designed by [[Jo Mielziner]] with Tod Andrews, [[Margaret Phillips (actress)|Margaret Phillips]], Monica Boyar and [[Anne Jackson]]. The play ran for 102 performances, and at the time, represented a comparative failure for Williams following his success with ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (play)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]''.

In 1952, [[Geraldine Page]] played the lead role in a revival directed by [[José Quintero]] at the newly founded [[Circle in the Square Theatre]], which was then in its [[Sheridan Square Playhouse]] location in lower Manhattan. Her performance has been credited with helping to launch the [[Off-Broadway]] movement, putting both herself and Quintero on the map and vindicating the play.<ref>[http://archives.nypl.org/the/21843#access_use "Circle in the Square papers"], held by the [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]], accessed December 18, 2018</ref> In 1953, Page starred opposite [[Richard Kiley]] in an hour-long adaptation of the play on the radio series ''Best Plays'', recordings of which still exist. She also portrayed Alma Winemiller in the 1961 film opposite [[Laurence Harvey]], earning an Academy Award nomination, as did [[Una Merkel]] playing her mother.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nixon|first1=Rob|title=Summer and Smoke|url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/188874|website=Turner Classic Movies|publisher=Turner Classics|access-date=11 June 2015}}</ref> Additional Oscar nominations went to the Art Direction and Elmer Bernstein's evocative musical score. In 1963, [[Peter Boyle]] starred in the play during the opening season of [[Wayside Theatre]].<ref name=wayside>{{cite web | url=https://www.allaboutwayside.com/1963-gleason | title=Gleason: Production Chronology | publisher=allaboutwayside.com | accessdate=May 26, 2023 | author=Laster, James H.}}</ref><ref name=frommer>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKixhMWV2wcC&dq=%22Peter+Boyle%22+wayside&pg=PA144 | title=Frommer's Virginia | publisher=Macmillan | author=McDonald, George | year=1996 | pages=144 | isbn=9780028607047}}</ref>

The Broadway premiere of the revised version titled ''The Eccentricities of a Nightingale'' was staged in 1976. The production was directed by [[Edwin Sherin]], with scenery by William Ritman, costumes by [[Theoni V. Aldredge]], lighting by Marc B. Weiss and original music by [[Charles Gross]]. It was produced in conjunction with Marc W. Jacobs. The production stage manager was Henry Banister and press was by Seymour Krawitz, Patricia McLean Krawitz and Louise Ment. The show starred [[Betsy Palmer]] (Alma), [[Shepperd Strudwick]] (Rev. Winemiller), Grace Carney (Mrs. Winemiller), [[Nan Martin]] (Mrs. Buchanan), Peter Blaxill (Roger Doremus), Jen Jones (Mrs. Bassett), Patricia Guinan (Rosemary), W.P. Dremak (Vernon), Thomas Stechschulte (Traveling Salesman) and [[David Selby]] (Dr. Buchanan). The production ran for 24 performances at the [[Morosco Theatre]].<ref name="ibdb" />

In 1991, [[Gilles Gleizes]] translated in French, with Roberta Bailey, ''Summer and Smoke'', and directed the play in France, [[Théâtre de Rungis]] et [[CDN de Limoges]].{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

In 1996, the play was revived at the Criterion Center Stage Right in New York, in a production directed by [[David Warren (director)|David Warren]], with [[Harry Hamlin]] and [[Mary McDonnell]].

[[Olga Bellin]], [[Laila Robins]] and [[Amanda Plummer]] have been notable Almas in regional productions.<ref>Muller, Pat (August 2, 1951). [https://www.newspapers.com/image/10887151/?clipping_id=165304505 "Heavy Drama of Williams' Play Is Capably Handled"]. ''The Rhinelander Daily News''. p.&nbsp;2. Retrieved February 20, 2025. "Miss Olga Bielinska plays to the hilt her difficult role as the hypochrondriacal Alma, the minister's daughter, who finds it easier to retire from life than to meet squarely [sic]."</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Summer and Smoke|author=Gussow, Mel|date=July 31, 1986|work=The New York Times|page=C17|quote=In a revival of the play at the Williamstown Theater Festival, Laila Robins gives a dazzling performance as Alma. Many theatergoers may have vivid memories of Margaret Phillips, who created the role on Broadway, and Geraldine Page, who presided at the play's Off Broadway rebirth in 1952 (Miss Page was the first Alma I saw), but it would be difficult to imagine a more fully realized performance than the one Miss Robins is offering at Williamstown under the direction of James Simpson.|id={{ProQuest|425934915}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Summer and Smoke|author=Rooney, David|date=September 25, 2006|work=Variety|pages=84, 86|quote=It's to the Hartford a.d.'s credit, and that of his superlative leads, Amanda Plummer and Marc Kudisch, that the delicate foundations of a substantiating bridge have been built between Alma and John, underscoring the poignancy of their awkwardly articulated attraction to one another - and rescuing them from unidimensional black and white. Page's Alma was a faded porcelain flower, as fluttery and tenuous in her grasp of reality as any of Williams' emotionally stunted women. Plummer takes her cue less from Alma's description of herself as 'one of those weak and divided people who slip like shadows among you solid ones,' than from her subsequent line: 'But sometimes, out of necessity, we shadowy people take on a strength of our own.'|id={{ProQuest|236232944}}}}</ref>

It was nearly 60 years before the London premiere of ''Summer and Smoke''. It opened at the [[Apollo Theatre]] on 17 October 2006. The production, directed by [[Adrian Noble]], and starring [[Rosamund Pike]] and [[Chris Carmack]], opened at the [[Nottingham Playhouse]] in September and then transferred to London. It closed 10 weeks short of its planned 16-week run due to disappointing ticket sales.

In January 2007, the [[Paper Mill Playhouse]] in Millburn, New Jersey, presented a revival starring [[Amanda Plummer]] and [[Kevin Anderson (actor)|Kevin Anderson]], directed by Michael Wilson. In May 2008, the Off-Broadway group [[The Actors Company Theatre|The Actors Company Theatre (TACT)]] presented a revival of the 1964 revision of the play, titled ''The Eccentricities of a Nightingale'', which received a favorable notice in ''The New York Times''.<ref name="NYTimes2008" />

In 2017, the [[Almeida Theatre]] announced a new production starring [[Patsy Ferran]], directed by Rebecca Frecknall and designed by Tom Scutt. After a successful run and several five-star reviews, the production was transferred to the [[Duke of York's Theatre]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.londontheatredirect.com/news/1994/summer-and-smoke-heads-to-the-duke-of-yorks-theatre-for-west-end-transfer.aspx|title=Summer and Smoke heads to the Duke of York's Theatre for West End transfer|website=London Theatre Direct Limited|date=2018-06-11|access-date=2018-06-26|language=en}}</ref>

The play returned to Off-Broadway in the spring of 2018. It was performed by the [[Classic Stage Company]], with Nathan Darrow and Marin Ireland in the lead roles. It was directed by Jack Cummings III.