Sydney Theatre Company and UBS Investment Bank present
A Streetcar Named Desire
By Tennessee Williams
Downtown New Orleans. In blows Blanche DuBois: a Southern Belle, a fading beauty, a passionate, fragile thing.
And she really is in the wrong place. All her respectability, politenesses and old-fashioned Southern airs and graces provoke the disdain of her sister Stella's husband. Stanley is a rough, modern man with a coarse sense of humour, no interest in manners and a wild streak.
Her flirting, primping and needy behaviour fix Stanley's determination to break Blanche and all she stands for. And then she wins the heart of his poker buddy, Mitch.
A Streetcar Named Desire is a compelling and sensuous play which features some of the most memorable characters in theatrical history. The battle between Blanche and Stanley comes to embody nothing less than the battle between tradition and progress itself. The quasi-aristocratic world of plantations, mint juleps and poetry at dusk going head to head with the emerging urban, industrial uberlith of the all-beer, all-poker New America.
3 hours 15 mins including interval
Reviews
'What Blanchett achieves in the Sydney Theatre Company's revelatory revival of A Streetcar Named Desire amounts to a truly great portrayal - certainly the most heartbreaking Blanche I've ever experienced...this is the kind of evening you want to urge people to see, to remind them of theater's illuminating range." The Washington Post
"This Streetcar is a brutal beauty that demands our attention, and rewards it" - USA Today
Read the Sydney Morning Herald review here.
Read The Australian review here.
"***** An explosive cocktail of sexual desire, physical and psychological violence, fantasy, desperation and clashing cultures and classes, the lyrical play is as enthralling and shocking as ever." The Sunday Telegraph
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I just got back from seeing A Streetcar Named Desire at the Kennedy Center and it was incredible!! The whole production was beautiful and so inspired- I felt completely transported to the Kowalski's home in New Orleans. All of the acting was unlike anything I've ever seen and I loved that it was an Australian production, having lived there a few years ago. I've never seen Streetcar before and I'm afraid that no other production could possibly live up to this one! I could really go back and see it a hundred more times. Bravo to the cast, crew and all involved in this amazing show! - Eileen
What an amazing performance, from the very begining when Liv Ullmann walked out onto the stage to introduce the play to the end, I dont think I blinked once. I originally read and saw A Street Car Named Desire at High School over 20 years ago, but the performance on Tuesday the 1st was truely amazing. I did not realise how dark Blanches character became as she dived further into what seemed a bottomless pit of dispair, Cate Blanchett made me see the character in her true light as how Tennessee Williams would have dreamt her, I walked out feeling over whelmed with sadness for Blanch and amazement to the acting abiltiy Australia has to offer. Thank you so much to the entire cast for making my dream come true to see an amazing play presented by some amazing actors and an amzing Director. It was worth coming to Sydney overnight from the bush. Thank you, bravo - Sean
I saw Streetcar last night and it was fantastic! It made me laugh, cry and left me with tingles down my spine. The set, costumes, lighting, sound…cast and crew…wow. This is a truly fabulous production of a fantastic play. - Molly
I had the great privilege to see your production of Streetcar. It was astonishing! The entire production was rivetting, the cast exemplary. Cate Blanchett was nothing short of brilliant ( I use that word very sparingly). But you buggers - you have spoiled theatre for me forever, because I will never see anything as good again!! - Ali
Liv Ullmann's STC production of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' could very well be the definitive production. Tennessee Williams play explores the repressive culture of the forties in Americas South and serves as a metaphor for a society that represses the feminine archetype, in all her manifestations (including homosexuality). From the opening scene where Blanche Dubois (Cate Blanchett) sits, isolated, clothed in all the trappings of a Southern Belle; to the last scene where Blanche sits again isolated, only now stripped of her clothes and all her dignity, the audience is held captive in conflict between romance and pragmatism, grace and grit, honour and shame. It is an extraordinary night at the theatre, one that highlights the brilliance of Williams, the deft directing by Liv Ullmann and an ensemble cast of some of the finest performances I've seen. Cate Blanchett is magnificent as Blanche and this performance sets her out as one of the finest actors of our time. - Andrea
An amazing production! And Cate Blanchett was absolutely superb and I don't think anyone else could play Blanche better than her. - Lucy
Absolutely brilliant! I loved every second of it, from beginning to end. I find it impossible to criticise any aspect! - Rebecca
Walking into the theatre last night having never read the play nor seen the movie, I had great anticipation of being taken on a journey. The journey was incredible - this story, so grim in some awful realities, was brilliantly conveyed through all aspects of the production - the actors, the set, lighting etc. Thank you for the journey - I have not stopped thinking about it since. - Meredith
After having taught this at HSC level for the past 8 years I thought I knew the ins and outs of Williams' text - that was until this production. Ullman's light and shade direction, complimented Blanchett's utterly unique take on Blanche and Edgerton absolutely crushed the myth that Brando was the only iconic Stanley. I was and still am blown away by this further exploration of the quintessential classic and proves that it will always have much to offer us. STC, thankyou so much - I thought I had left it too late to get my ticket but I got a seat in a prime spot and I am still buzzing. Can't wait for more. - Joy
Absolutely fantastic performances and production by the whole cast & crew. The evening made even better by staying on after the performance for "Night With The Actors". Can't wait to see what Cate & Andrew will come up with next. - Jonathan
I left your theatre yesterday with a sensation that I have never felt before. I was speechless, I was in awe, I was near tears - I have never experienced such a powerful performance that will have a lifetime impact on how I see live theatre. You have set the bar so high that it will be utterly unobtainable with any other play, company or actor to achieve such perfection. If I never see another performance on stage I can honestly say I will die happy having been so privileged to see the world's greatest actor Cate Blanchett. Bravo Cate - Bravo to the entire cast & crew of "Streetcar" - Linda
