Why St. Louis' Chicest Pool Party Matters More Than Ever

By Grayling Holmes

I've attended the Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis Pool Party for the past three summers, and one thing has become abundantly clear.

Very little swimming actually takes place.

Instead, some of St. Louis' most philanthropic, arts-minded, and stylish residents gather around an elegant backyard pool with cocktails in hand, gourmet bites circulating throughout the crowd, and conversations flowing as effortlessly as the wine. Every year, the event is hosted at one of the region's most spectacular private homes, offering guests the rare opportunity to mingle in an extraordinary setting while supporting one of the city's most treasured cultural organizations.

The fashion is every bit as entertaining as the conversation. Think flowing linen, colorful caftans, tailored resort jackets, Panama hats, oversized sunglasses, and sophisticated summer dresses worthy of Palm Beach or the Côte d'Azur. It has quietly become one of the most fashionable afternoons of the St. Louis summer social season.

But beneath the glamorous atmosphere lies a purpose far more important than the fabulous resort wear.

The annual pool party is the Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis' signature summer fundraiser, helping ensure that one of the Midwest's premier literary and theatrical festivals continues to thrive. Every ticket purchased, every auction bid placed, and every donation made helps sustain a nonprofit organization that works year-round to bring world-class theater, educational programming, and literary scholarship to our community.

This year's event—cleverly titled "An In-Appropriate Afternoon by the Pool"—takes place Sunday, July 12, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the magnificent Central West End home of philanthropist Andy Arnold. The title, of course, is a playful nod to this fall's headline production, the Tony Award-winning play Appropriate.

Click here for 2026 Pool Party tickets.

For the first time in the Festival's eleven-year history, the mainstage production will not be a play written by Tennessee Williams himself.

At first glance, that may surprise longtime Festival patrons.

In reality, it perfectly captures this year's theme: The Tennessee Effect.

Williams, widely regarded as America's greatest playwright, forever changed American theater with masterpieces such as The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Although those groundbreaking works first captivated audiences in the 1940s and 1950s, Williams' influence has never diminished. His exploration of family conflict, longing, identity, memory, race, class, and the fragile complexities of the human condition continues to resonate with playwrights around the globe.

Great artists don't simply create masterpieces.

They inspire future generations to create their own.

Few contemporary playwrights embody that legacy more powerfully than Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, whose acclaimed drama Appropriate arrives in St. Louis this September produced by the TWSTL.

Many theater critics consider Jacobs-Jenkins the heir apparent to Tennessee Williams. Like Williams, he explores complicated Southern families, inherited secrets, social tensions, and emotional truths with remarkable depth and honesty. His writing bears the unmistakable fingerprints of Williams while speaking boldly to today's audiences.

Tony Award-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, whose acclaimed drama *Appropriate*

That enduring artistic legacy is precisely what the Festival means by The Tennessee Effect—the ripple effect of Williams' genius that continues to shape American theater nearly eight decades after The Glass Menagerie first premiered.

Rather than departing from its mission, this season expands it.

By presenting Appropriate, the Festival demonstrates that Tennessee Williams isn't simply a playwright to be remembered. He remains a living influence whose themes continue to echo through contemporary theater.

Producing a Tony Award-winning play of this caliber, however, requires significant financial support.

That is why the July pool party matters.

The afternoon features cocktails, exceptional food, an art auction, and the opportunity to spend time with many of St. Louis' most generous civic leaders, arts patrons, and theater lovers. The $175 admission directly supports the Festival's mission while helping make possible the ambitious 2026 season.

And if your summer calendar prevents you from attending, there is another meaningful way to help.

I encourage Sophisticated Living readers to visit TWSTL.org and make a tax-deductible contribution to this remarkable 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Every donation—large or small—helps preserve one of St. Louis' most distinctive cultural institutions and ensures that future generations will continue to experience theater that challenges, inspires, and transforms.

This fall's Festival extends far beyond Appropriate. Audiences will also enjoy a staged reading of Tennessee Williams' rarely produced The Lingering Hour, scholarly discussions exploring Williams' continuing relevance, educational workshops for students, and a special conversation between Villanova University Williams scholar Bess Rowen and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins discussing Williams' profound influence on his writing.

For those of us who believe the arts enrich every great city, supporting organizations like the Tennessee Williams Festival isn't simply charitable.

It's an investment in St. Louis itself.

So whether you arrive dressed in your favorite resort chic for an afternoon beside the pool or choose to support the Festival with a generous online donation, you'll be helping ensure that Tennessee Williams' remarkable legacy—and the remarkable artists he continues to inspire—remain vibrant for generations to come.

After all, the best pool parties aren't always about swimming.

Sometimes they're about diving into the arts.