Orpheus Descending, a play by Tennessee Williams opened in 1957 in New York City.

In Orpheus Descending, a young charismatic musician descends on a small, repressive southern town. He forms a relationship with a passionate woman who is trapped in a bad marriage and who has a tragic past. The play exhibits many of the playwright’s typical themes: loneliness and desire, sexuality and repression, the longing for freedom. Violence lurks just below the surface, and it bursts into the open at the play’s end. The play is also rich in imagery, lyrical language, and symbolism.