Williams, Jaston 2025-04-09
This interview features Jaston Williams, a Texas Tech distinguished theatre alum who, over the course of forty-five years, has become a well-known playwright, author, and stage actor. In this interview, Mr. Williams discusses his family background, taking courses in Texas Tech’s speech and theatre program, and reminisces of theatre colleagues and faculty, particularly performers G.W. Bailey and Joe Sears. He addresses how he co-created and co-performed the Greater Tuna plays with Joe Sears and Ed Howard. Mr. Williams also talks about living in Lubbock in the 1970s and surviving the Lubbock Tornado of May 11, 1970, creating and performing one-man shows and a collaborative show with musician Kimmie Rhodes, and how he and Joe Sears recently collaborated on the musical production The Nerve of Minerva at Texas Tech University.
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: Jaston Williams
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: April 9, 2025
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Interviewer: Lynn Whitfield
Length: 01:38:54 (1 hour 38 minutes)
Abstract
Introduction and background information; Growing up during the 1950s and 1960s; college and meeting Joe Sears; The Nerve of Minerva; G. W. Bailey; Other actors he met in Lubbock and at Texas Tech; the appeal of the Tuna plays; His love for his plays; Satire; his son, and how he met his husband; one-man shows; Making programs for people with sensory issues; Lubbock in the 1970s; Being at the TTU theater when the May 1970 tornado hit; Collaborating with Kimmie Rhodes and other artists ; TTU theatre directors; Closing discussion and remarks
Access Information
Original Recording Format: born digital
Recording Format Notes: patrons may listen to audio in our reading room
Transcript: transcript available on dspace
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