A steamy summer romance...and realisation

This rarely staged drama by Tennessee Williams has often been overlooked in favour of works such as "To Kill A Mockingbird" and now comes to the Almeida Theatre in February, directed by Rebecca Frecknell. Spanning the course of 16 years, we follow the spiritual and sexual development of a girl as she blossoms into a young woman, and the fraught bond she has with a male childhood friend.

The setting is Glorious Hill, Mississippi and the story centres on a highly-strung, unmarried minister's daughter, Alma Winemiller, and the tug-and-push will-they won't they near romance with John Buchanan, Jr., a fun-loving and unruly doctor who grew up next to her. Whilst he is in pursuit of her romantically, she rebuffs him, wanting spiritual fulfillment instead. However as the years pass she realises that he was the one for her all along; but does he still feel the same way about her?