CECIL BROWN
295
Williams:
One of my favorite poems is "Sailing to Byzantium." Was
that his early period or late period?
Int.:
I'm not an authority but I think it was his middle period because
he wrote several poems on that theme but he only perfected it in
"Sailing to Byzantium."
Williams:
I thought that was his greatest poem.
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick.
That is no country for old men, the young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees:
That's really a beautiful poem. When I get drunk I love to read
poetry.
Int.:
The sound, the cadence of it–
Williams:
Yes, lulls you-
Int.:
Do you write much poetry now?
Williams:
Not as much as I used to; I find it's just as easy to incorporate
it into the plays.
Int.:
I love your reading on that record of your narrative poem, "Yellow
Bird."
Williams:
Oh, that. Do you know I improvised a lot of that as I read it.
Faye Dunaway's crazy about it, and every time I see her she plays it
for me. She plays the record and says she's determined to make a
movie of it. I don't like to read my plays. I like to see them performed
well once in a while.
Int.:
What does a good actor do when he performs?
Williams:
That's what I'm trying to find: I'm looking for a good actor.
I can't get Marlon Brando.
Int.:
You have a part for him?
Williams:
Yes. There are other good actors. There are plenty of them.
But I've got to find one that's right by January or February 'cause
after that I'm going to write a codicil to my will again.
It
cannot be
changed.
Int.:
The play cannot be changed?
Williams:
Yeah, because if I should die, they'd do that; they'd get
somebody to rewrite it, and it means too much to me. I'm waiting
only to the middle of February and if they haven't found the right
actor by then it's going to be sealed.
Int.:
You're writing a new play now?
Williams:
Oh, I'm just writing little plays now, plays that involve
dancing, mime and dancing.
