''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...
and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of
Blanche DuBois
Blanche DuBois (married name Grey) is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. The character was written for Tallulah Bankhead and made popular to later audiences with Elia Kaza ...
, a former
Southern belle
"Southern belle" () is a colloquialism for a debutante or other fashionable young woman of European heritage in the planter class of the Antebellum South, particularly as a romantic counterpart to the Southern gentleman.
Characteristics
Th ...
who, after encountering a series of personal losses, leaves her once-prosperous situation to move into a shabby apartment in
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
rented by her younger sister Stella and brother-in-law Stanley.
''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is one of the most critically acclaimed plays of the 20th century and Williams's most popular work. It still ranks among his most performed plays, and has inspired many adaptations in other forms, notably a
critically acclaimed film that was released in 1951.
[Production notes]
December 3, 1947—December 17, 1949
IBDb.com
Name
Blanche is mentioned in the play as arriving at Stella's apartment by riding in a
streetcar
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
on the Desire
streetcar line
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include segment ...
. Tennessee Williams was living in an apartment on Toulouse Street in New Orleans' French Quarter when he wrote ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. The old Desire streetcar line ran only a half-block away.
In the 1951 film Blanche is shown riding the car. In the interim between writing the play and shooting the film, though, the line was converted into a bus service (1948), and the production team had to seek permission from the authorities to hire out a streetcar with the "Desire" name on it.
Plot

After the loss of her family home to creditors,
Blanche DuBois
Blanche DuBois (married name Grey) is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. The character was written for Tallulah Bankhead and made popular to later audiences with Elia Kaza ...
travels from
Laurel, Mississippi
Laurel is a city in and the second county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,161. Laurel is northeast of Ellisville, the first county seat, which contains the first county ...
, to the New Orleans
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as the (; ; ), is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans () was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Square" in English), a ...
to live with her younger married sister,
Stella, and Stella's husband,
Stanley Kowalski
Stanley Kowalski is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' play '' A Streetcar Named Desire''.
In the play
Stanley lives in the working-class Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans with his wife, Stella ( DuBois), and is employe ...
. She is in her thirties and, with no money, has nowhere else to go.
Blanche tells Stella that she has taken a leave of absence from her English-teaching position because of her nerves (which is later revealed to be a lie). Blanche laments the shabbiness of her sister's two-room flat. She finds Stanley loud and rough, eventually referring to him as "common." Stanley, in return, is suspicious of Blanche, does not care for her manners and resents her presence which is already interfering with his regimented but hedonistic lifestyle.
From the first scene, Blanche is nervous and jittery. She is reluctant to be seen in the glare of light and seems to have a drinking problem. She is also deceptive and is critical of her sister and brother-in-law.
Stanley later questions Blanche about her earlier marriage. Blanche had married when she was very young, but her husband committed suicide. This memory causes her obvious distress. The reader later learns she suffers from guilt due to the way she had reacted to finding out her husband's
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...
and his fatal reaction. Stanley, worried that he has been cheated out of an inheritance, demands to know what happened to Belle Reve, once a large
plantation
Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...
and the DuBois family home. He tells Stella about the
Napoleonic Code
The Napoleonic Code (), officially the Civil Code of the French (; simply referred to as ), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since i ...
, stating that with it a husband had control over his wife's financial affairs. Blanche hands over all the documents pertaining to Belle Reve. While looking at the papers, Stanley notices a bundle of letters that Blanche emotionally proclaims are personal love letters from her dead husband. For a moment, Stanley seems caught off guard over her proclaimed feelings. Afterwards, he informs Blanche that Stella is going to have a baby.
The night after Blanche's arrival, during one of Stanley's poker games, Blanche meets Mitch, one of Stanley's
poker
Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...
player buddies. His courteous manner sets him apart from the other men. Their chat becomes flirtatious and friendly, and Blanche easily charms him; they like each other. Suddenly becoming upset over multiple interruptions, Stanley explodes in a drunken rage and strikes Stella. Blanche and Stella take refuge with the upstairs neighbor, Eunice Hubbell. When Stanley recovers, he cries out from the courtyard below for Stella to come back by repeatedly calling her name until she comes down and allows herself to be carried off to bed. Blanche is shocked to see that her sister has returned to her husband right after he assaulted her. After Stella returns to Stanley, Blanche and Mitch sit at the bottom of the steps in the courtyard, where Mitch apologizes for Stanley's coarse behavior.
The next morning, Blanche rushes to Stella and describes Stanley as subhuman, though Stella assures Blanche that she and Stanley are fine. Stanley overhears the conversation but keeps silent. When Stanley comes in, Stella hugs and kisses him, letting Blanche know that her low opinion of Stanley does not matter.
As the weeks pass, the friction between Blanche and Stanley continues to grow. Blanche has hope in Mitch, and tells Stella that she wants to go away with him and not be anyone's problem. During a meeting between the two, Blanche confesses to Mitch that once she was married to a young man, Allan Grey, whom she later discovered in a sexual encounter with an older man. Grey later killed himself when Blanche told him she was disgusted with him. The story touches Mitch, who tells Blanche that they need each other. Mitch also has lost someone and seems to have
empathy
Empathy is generally described as the ability to take on another person's perspective, to understand, feel, and possibly share and respond to their experience. There are more (sometimes conflicting) definitions of empathy that include but are ...
with Blanche's situation.
Later, Stanley repeats gossip to Stella from a seedy salesman with contacts in Laurel that Blanche was fired from her teaching job for involvement with an under-age student and that she lived at a hotel known for
prostitution
Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...
. Stella erupts in anger over Stanley's cruelty after he reveals he has already told Mitch. Later that evening, at Blanche's birthday party, there is an empty seat at the table for Mitch. Stanley gives Blanche a birthday "present", a one-way ticket back to Laurel by
Greyhound
The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets.
Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...
bus. An argument ensues between Stella and Stanley, but is cut short as Stella goes into unexpected labor and is taken by her husband to the hospital.
As Blanche waits at home alone, Mitch arrives and confronts Blanche with the stories that Stanley has told him. She eventually confesses that the stories are true. She pleads for forgiveness. An angry and humiliated Mitch rejects her. Nevertheless, he demands sex from her, suggesting that it is his right since he has waited for so long for nothing. Blanche threatens to cry fire and tells him to get out.
Stanley returns home to find Blanche alone in the apartment. She has descended into another fantasy about an old suitor coming to provide financial support and take her away from New Orleans. She falsely claims that Mitch had asked for her forgiveness, but she had rejected him. Stanley goes along with the act before angrily scorning Blanche's lies,
hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the practice of feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not. The word "hypocrisy" entered the English language ''c.'' 1200 with the meaning "the sin of pretending to virtue or goodness". Today, "hypocrisy" ofte ...
and behavior, and calling out her lie about Mitch. He advances toward her; in response, she threatens to attack him with a broken bottle, but is overpowered. Blanche collapses on the floor and Stanley is last seen taking her unconscious into his bed.
Some time in the near future, during a poker game at the Kowalski apartment, Stella and Eunice are seen packing Blanche's meager belongings while Blanche takes a bath in a
catatonic
Catatonia is a complex syndrome most commonly seen in people with underlying mood disorders, such as major depressive disorder, or psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia. People with catatonia exhibit abnormal movement and behaviors, wh ...
state, having suffered a
mental breakdown
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...
. Although Blanche has told Stella about Stanley raping her (which he denies), Stella cannot bring herself to believe her sister's story. When a doctor and a matron arrive to take Blanche to the hospital, she initially resists them and the nurse painfully restrains her. Mitch, present at the poker game, breaks down in tears. The doctor is far more gentle and she goes willingly with him, saying, "Whoever you are – I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." The poker game continues, uninterrupted.
Cast and characters
*
Blanche DuBois
Blanche DuBois (married name Grey) is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. The character was written for Tallulah Bankhead and made popular to later audiences with Elia Kaza ...
- 27 year old, loquacious and fragile woman who arrives at her sister's place in
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
destitute.
*
Stanley Kowalski
Stanley Kowalski is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' play '' A Streetcar Named Desire''.
In the play
Stanley lives in the working-class Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans with his wife, Stella ( DuBois), and is employe ...
- 30s, The husband of Stella, a veteran, middle class working man who is passionate with his wife and cruel to Blanche.
*
Stella Kowalski - 25 years old, Blanche's sister and wife to Stanley. Her loyalties are torn between her sister and her husband.
* Harold "Mitch" Mitchell - 30s, Stanley’s army friend, coworker, and poker buddy, who courts Blanche
Notable productions
Production history
Original Broadway production
The original Broadway production was produced by
Irene Mayer Selznick
Irene Gladys Selznick (née Mayer; April 2, 1907 – October 10, 1990) was an American socialite and theatrical producer.
Early life
Irene Gladys Mayer was born in Brooklyn, the younger of two sisters born to film producer Louis B. Mayer and hi ...
and directed by
Elia Kazan
Elias Kazantzoglou (, ; September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003), known as Elia Kazan ( ), was a Greek-American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one of the most honored and inf ...
.
It opened at the
Shubert Theatre in
New Haven
New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
in early November 1947, then played the
Walnut Street Theatre
Walnut Street Theatre, founded in 1808 at 825 Walnut Street, on the corner of S. 9th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia, is the oldest operating theatre in the United States.
The venue is operated by Walnut Str ...
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
before moving to the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 243 West 47th Street (Manhattan), 47th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1928, it ...
on December 3, 1947.
Selznick originally wanted to cast
Margaret Sullavan
Margaret Brooke Sullavan (May 16, 1909 – January 1, 1960) was an American stage and film actress. She began her career onstage in 1929 with the University Players on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In 1933, she caught the attention of film direct ...
and
John Garfield
John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle; March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...
, but settled on the less well-known
Jessica Tandy
Jessie Alice Tandy (7 June 1909 – 11 September 1994) was a British actress. An icon in the film industry, she appeared in over 100 stage productions and had more than 60 roles in film and TV, receiving an Academy Award, four Tony Awards, a BAF ...
and a virtual unknown at the time,
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia'' . The opening night cast also included
Kim Hunter
Kim Hunter (born Janet Cole; November 12, 1922 – September 11, 2002) was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' ''A Streetcar ...
as Stella and
Karl Malden
Karl Malden (born Mladen George Sekulovich; March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009) was an American stage, movie and television actor who first achieved acclaim in the original Broadway productions of Arthur Miller's '' All My Sons'' and Tennessee Will ...
as Mitch.
Tandy was cast after Williams saw her performance in a West Coast production of his one-act play ''
Portrait of a Madonna''. Williams believed that casting Brando, who was young for the part as it was originally conceived, would evolve Kowalski from being a vicious older man to someone whose unintentional cruelty can be attributed to youthful ignorance. Despite its shocking scenes and gritty dialogue, the audience applauded the debut performance.
Brooks Atkinson
Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theater critic. He worked for ''The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of his ...
, reviewing the opening in ''The New York Times'', described Tandy's "superb performance" as "almost incredibly true", concluding that Williams "has spun a poignant and luminous story".
Later in the run,
Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a ...
succeeded Tandy,
Carmelita Pope succeeded Hunter, and
Anthony Quinn
Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known as Anthony Quinn, was an American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental virility" in over 100 ...
succeeded Brando. Hagen and Quinn took the show on a national tour directed by
Harold Clurman
Harold Edgar Clurman (September 18, 1901 – September 9, 1980) was an American theatre director and drama critic. In 2003, he was named one of the most influential figures in U.S. theater by PBS. , and then returned to Broadway for additional performances.
Ralph Meeker also took on the part of Stanley both in the Broadway and touring companies. Tandy received a
Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actresses for quality leading roles in a Broad ...
in 1948, sharing the honor with
Judith Anderson
Dame Frances Margaret Anderson (10 February 18973 January 1992), known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film, and television.
A pre-eminent stage actress in her era, she won two ...
and
Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell (February 16, 1893 – June 9, 1974) was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born in Berlin to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York.
Dubbed "The First Lady of the Theatre" by cri ...
. The original Broadway production closed, after 855 performances, in 1949.
The Original cast included,
Jessica Tandy
Jessie Alice Tandy (7 June 1909 – 11 September 1994) was a British actress. An icon in the film industry, she appeared in over 100 stage productions and had more than 60 roles in film and TV, receiving an Academy Award, four Tony Awards, a BAF ...
as
Blanche DuBois
Blanche DuBois (married name Grey) is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. The character was written for Tallulah Bankhead and made popular to later audiences with Elia Kaza ...
,
Karl Malden
Karl Malden (born Mladen George Sekulovich; March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009) was an American stage, movie and television actor who first achieved acclaim in the original Broadway productions of Arthur Miller's '' All My Sons'' and Tennessee Will ...
as Harold "Mitch" Mitchell,
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia'' as
Stanley Kowalski
Stanley Kowalski is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' play '' A Streetcar Named Desire''.
In the play
Stanley lives in the working-class Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans with his wife, Stella ( DuBois), and is employe ...
,
Kim Hunter
Kim Hunter (born Janet Cole; November 12, 1922 – September 11, 2002) was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' ''A Streetcar ...
as
Stella Kowalski,
Rudy Bond
Rudolph Bond (October 10, 1912 – March 29, 1982) was an American actor who was active from 1947 until his death. His work spanned Broadway, films and television.
Early life
Bond was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second youngest of f ...
as Steve Hubbell,
Nick Dennis
Nick Dennis (April 26, 1904 – November 14, 1980) was a Greek American film actor born in Thessaly, Greece.
Biography
The supporting actor, who began in films in 1947, was known for playing ethnic types (usually Greek) in films such as ''Kis ...
as Pablo Gonzales,
Peg Hillias as Eunice Hubbell, Vito Christi as Young Collector,
Richard Garrick
Richard Garrick (December 27, 1878 – August 21, 1962) was an Irish-born American actor and director.
Life and career
Garrick was born Richard Thomas O'Brien in the townland of Portlaw, County Waterford, Ireland. His father, James E. O'Brien ...
as Doctor, Ann Dere as Nurse (later called the Matron),
Gee Gee James
Regina Theodora James, better known as Gee Gee James (born 1902 or 1903, died 1971), was an African American radio and theater actress and singer most notable in the 1930s and '40s. James was Stereotypes of African Americans, racially typecast a ...
as Negro Woman and
Edna Thomas as Mexican Woman.
Other early productions
The first adaptation of ''Streetcar'' in Greece was performed in 1948 by Koun's Art Theater, two years before its film adaptation and one year before its London premiere, directed by
Karolos Koun starring
Melina Mercouri
Maria Amalia "Melina" Mercouri (, 18 October 1920 – 6 March 1994) was a Greek actress, singer, activist, and politician. She came from a prominent political family for multiple generations. She received an Academy Award nomination and won a F ...
as Blanche and
Vasilis Diamantopoulos as Stanley, with original music by
Manos Hadjidakis
Manos may refer to: Films
* The Hands (film), ''The Hands'' (film) (Spanish: ''Las manos''), a 2006 Argentinean-Italian film
* ''Manos: The Hands of Fate'', 1966 horror film
Other uses
* Manos (album), ''Manos'' (album), by The Spinanes
* Manos (n ...
.
The London production, directed by
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...
, opened at the
Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels.
History
Origins
The theatre was constructed in th ...
on October 12, 1949. It starred
Bonar Colleano
Bonar Colleano (born Bonar Sullivan; 14 March 1924 – 17 August 1958) was an American-British stage and film actor based in the United Kingdom.
Biography Early life
Colleano was born Bonar Sullivan in New York City. He had childhood experiences ...
as Stanley,
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh ( ; born Vivian Mary Hartley; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. After completing her drama school education, Leigh appeared in small roles in four films in 1935 and progress ...
as Blanche,
Renée Asherson
Dorothy Renée Ascherson (19 May 1915 – 30 October 2014), known professionally as Renée Asherson, was a British actress. Much of her theatrical career was spent in Shakespearean plays, appearing at such venues as the Old Vic, the Liverpool ...
as Stella and
Bernard Braden as Mitch.
An Australian production with
Viola Keats
Viola Keats (1911–1998) was a British stage, film and television actress. ''The Independent'' called her "an actress of vigour and conviction." After training at RADA, her first appearance on the London Stage was at the Apollo Theatre in 1933 ...
as Blanche and
Arthur Franz
Arthur Sofield Franz (February 29, 1920 – June 17, 2006) was an American actor whose most notable feature film role was as Lieutenant, Junior Grade H. Paynter Jr. in ''The Caine Mutiny'' (1954).
Early life
Franz was born in Perth Amboy, N ...
as Stanley opened at the
Comedy Theatre
The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011, in Melbourne in February 1950.
Revivals
The first all-black production of ''Streetcar'' was likely performed by the Summer Theatre Company at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, in August 1953 and directed by one of Williams's former classmates at Iowa, Thomas D. Pawley, as noted in the ''Streetcar'' edition of the "Plays in Production" series published by Cambridge University Press.
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lifeboat (194 ...
, for whom Williams originally had written the role of Blanche, starred in a 1956 New York City Center Company production directed by Herbert Machiz.
In 1972, American composer
Frances Ziffer set ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' to music.
The first Broadway revival of the play was in 1973. It was produced by the
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
, at the
Vivian Beaumont Theater
The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Operated by the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater (LCT ...
, and starred
Rosemary Harris
Rosemary Ann Harris (born 19 September 1927) is an English actress. She is the recipient of an Primetime Emmy Award, Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and three Lauren ...
as Blanche,
James Farentino as Stanley and
Patricia Conolly
Patricia Conolly (born 29 August 1933) is an Australian stage actress.
Biography
Conolly began her stage career in Australia where she grew up, and has performed in England in the West End, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Chichester Festi ...
as Stella.
In 1976,
Rip Torn
Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn Jr. (February 6, 1931 – July 9, 2019) was an American actor whose career spanned roughly 60 years. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing Marsh Turner in '' Cross Creek'' (1983). Tor ...
enlisted director
Jack Gelber
Jack Gelber (April 12, 1932 – May 9, 2003) was an American playwright best known for his 1959 drama ''The Connection (play), The Connection'', depicting the life of drug-addicted jazz musicians. The first great success of the Living Theatr ...
to helm a revival at the once celebrated Academy Festival Theatre in
Lake Forest, Illinois
Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and t ...
starring himself as Stanley and his wife
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Sue Page (November 22, 1924June 13, 1987) was an American actress. With a career which spanned four decades across film, stage, and television, Page was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Geraldine Page, numer ...
as Blanche. The production was threateningly realistic, projecting a
brightly lit, garbage-filled stage reflecting a hostile, predatory world and immersing the audience in a total
theatre experience. Gelber's Streetcar was troubling for the critics because it was raw, even
dangerous. It pushed the Streetcar script to the farthest reaches of
urban violence and unabated naturalism. One review said "This is not the Blanche of butterfly wings. This is gossamer with guts." Page's performance was described as displaying little of Leigh's hysteria or Tandy's forlorn helplessness.
The spring 1988 revival at the
Circle in the Square Theatre
The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, within the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. The current Broadway theater, completed in 1972, i ...
starred
Aidan Quinn
Aidan Quinn (born March 8, 1959) is an Irish-American actor. He made his film debut in '' Reckless'' (1984), and has starred in over 80 feature films, including ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' (1985), '' The Mission'' (1986), '' Stakeout'' (1987) ...
opposite
Blythe Danner
Blythe Katherine Danner (born February 3, 1943) is an American actress. Accolades she has received include two Primetime Emmy Awards for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Best Supporting Actress in a Dra ...
as Blanche and
Frances McDormand
Frances Louise McDormand (born Cynthia Ann Smith; June 23, 1957) is an American actress and film producer. In a career spanning over four decades, McDormand has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awa ...
as Stella.
A highly publicized and acclaimed revival in 1992 starred
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama. He has received List of awards and nominations received by A ...
as Stanley and
Jessica Lange
Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. With a career spanning over five decades, she is known for her roles Jessica Lange on screen and stage, on stage and screen. She has received List of awards and nominati ...
as Blanche. It was staged at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 243 West 47th Street (Manhattan), 47th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1928, it ...
, where the original production was staged. This production proved so successful that it was filmed for television. It featured
Timothy Carhart
Timothy Carhart (born December 24, 1953) is an American actor. He starred in the CBS drama '' Island Son'' (1989–90) and has had recurring roles in '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (2000–03) and '' 24'' (2002). He also starred in the 19 ...
as Mitch and
Amy Madigan
Amy Marie Madigan (born September 11, 1950) is an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1985 film ''Twice in a Lifetime (film), Twice in a Lifetime''. Her other film credits include ''Love ...
as Stella, as well as future ''
Sopranos
A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to A5 in choral music, or to ...
'' stars
James Gandolfini
James John Gandolfini (; September 18, 1961June 19, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Tony Soprano, the Italian-American American Mafia, Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007 ...
and
Aida Turturro
Aida Turturro (born September 25, 1962) is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Janice Soprano on the HBO drama series ''The Sopranos''.
Early life and education
After graduating from high school, Turturro earned a Bachelo ...
. Gandolfini was Carhart's understudy.
In 1997,
Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré in New Orleans mounted a 50th Anniversary production, with music by the
Marsalis family, starring
Michael Arata and Shelly Poncy. In 2009, the
Walnut Street Theatre
Walnut Street Theatre, founded in 1808 at 825 Walnut Street, on the corner of S. 9th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia, is the oldest operating theatre in the United States.
The venue is operated by Walnut Str ...
in Philadelphia, where the original pre-Broadway tryout was held, staged a production of the play.
In 1997, at Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago IL, Gary Sinise as Stanley, John C Reilly as Mitch, Kathryn Erbe as Stella, and Laila Robins as Blanche.
Glenn Close
Glenda Veronica Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. In a career spanning over five decades on Glenn Close on screen and stage, screen and stage, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Glenn Close, numerous ac ...
starred in
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is an English theatre director and lyricist. He has been the artistic director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal Haymarket. He has dir ...
's 2002 production for the
National Theatre at the Lyttleton Theatre, London.
The 2005 Broadway revival was directed by Edward Hall and produced by The Roundabout Theater Company. It starred
John C. Reilly as Stanley,
Amy Ryan
Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski (born May 3, 1968), known professionally as Amy Ryan, is an American actress. She began her professional stage career in 1987 and made her Broadway debut in 1993 as a replacement in the original production of Wendy W ...
as Stella, and
Natasha Richardson
Natasha Jane Richardson (11 May 1963 – 18 March 2009) was a British actress. A part of the Redgrave family, Richardson was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson and the granddaughter of Michael Redgr ...
as Blanche. The production was Richardson's final appearance on Broadway; she died in 2009 following a skiing accident.
Bette Bourne and Paul Shaw of the British gay theater company Bloolips, and Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver of the American lesbian theater company Split Britches, collaborated and performed a gender-bent adaptation titled ''Belle Reprieve''. Blanche was played as "man in a dress", Stanley as a "butch lesbian", Mitch as a "fairy disguised as a man", and Stella as a "woman disguised as a woman".
The
Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in the Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Theatre ...
production of ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' premiered on September 5 and ran until October 17, 2009. This production, directed by
Liv Ullmann
Liv Johanne Ullmann (born 16 December 1938) is a Norwegian actress and filmmaker. Recognised as one of the greatest European actresses of all time, Ullmann is known as the muse and frequent collaborator of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, whom she date ...
, starred
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise Blanchett ( ; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor and producer. Regarded as one of the best performers of her generation, she is recognised for Cate Blanchett on screen and stage, her versatile work across stage and scre ...
as Blanche,
Joel Edgerton
Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is known for his portrayal of Will McGill on the first two seasons of the Australian drama series'' The Secret Life of Us'' (2001–02), and for playing Owen Lars in t ...
as Stanley,
Robin McLeavy
Robin McLeavy (born 19 June 1981) is an Australian actress.
Early life
McLeavy is from Sydney, Australia. She graduated from NIDA in 2004.
Career
McLeavy starred as Lola Stone in the critically acclaimed Australian horror film, '' The Loved ...
as Stella and Tim Richards as Mitch.
From July 2009 until October 2009,
Rachel Weisz
Rachel Hannah Weisz (; born 7 March 1970) is an English actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Rachel Weisz, several awards, including an Academy Award, ...
and
Ruth Wilson
Ruth Wilson (born 13 January 1982) is an English actress. She has played the eponymous protagonist in ''Jane Eyre'' (2006), Alice Morgan in the BBC psychological crime drama '' Luther'' (2010–2013, 2019), Alison Lockhart in the Showtime dram ...
starred in a highly acclaimed revival of the play in London's West End at the
Donmar Warehouse
The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977.
Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...
directed by
Rob Ashford
Rob Ashford (born November 19, 1959) is an American stage director and choreographer. He is a Tony Award, Olivier Award, Emmy Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award winner.
Early life and education
Born in Orlando, Florida and ...
.
In April 2012,
Blair Underwood
Blair Erwin Underwood (born August 25, 1964) is an American actor. He made his debut in the 1985 musical film '' Krush Groove'' and from 1987 to 1994 starred as attorney Jonathan Rollins in the NBC legal drama series ''L.A. Law''.
Underwood has ...
,
Nicole Ari Parker
Nicole Ari Parker Kodjoe (born October 7, 1970) is an American actress and model. She made her screen debut with a leading role in the critically acclaimed independent film '' The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love'' (1995) and went o ...
,
Daphne Rubin-Vega
Daphne Rubin-Vega ( Vega; born November 18, 1969) is a Panamanian-American actress, dancer, and singer-songwriter. She is best known for originating the roles of Mimi Marquez in the 1996 premiere of the Broadway musical '' Rent'' and Lucy in the ...
and
Wood Harris
Sherwin David "Wood" Harris (born October 17, 1969) is an American actor. He first garnered attention for his role as Motaw in the Jeff Pollack film '' Above the Rim'' (1994), prior to portraying high school football player Julius Campbell in t ...
starred in a multiracial adaptation at the
Broadhurst Theatre
The Broadhurst Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 235 West 44th Street (Manhattan), 44th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1917, the thea ...
. Theatre review aggregator ''Curtain Critic'' gave the production a score of 61 out of 100 based on the opinions of 17 critics.
A production at the
Young Vic
The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth.
The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Nadia Fall has been artistic director since 2025, succeeding ...
, London, opened on July 23, 2014, and closed on September 19, 2014. Directed by Benedict Andrews and starring
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and activist. She is best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002; 2016–2018), Lily Bart in the dr ...
,
Ben Foster,
Vanessa Kirby
Vanessa Nuala Kirby (born 18 April 1987 or 1988) is an English actress and producer. She rose to international prominence with her portrayal of Princess Margaret in the Netflix drama series ''The Crown'' (2016–2017), for which she won the Bri ...
and
Corey Johnson; this production garnered critical acclaim and is the fastest-selling show produced by the Young Vic. On September 16, 2014, the performance was relayed live to over one thousand cinemas in the UK as part of the
National Theatre Live
National Theatre Live is an initiative operated by the Royal National Theatre in London. It broadcasts live, by satellite, performances of their productions (and those of other theatres) to cinemas and arts centres around the world.
About
I gre ...
project. Thus far, the production has been screened in over 2000 venues. From April 23, 2016, until June 4, 2016, the production was reprised at the new
St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York City.
In 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdowns, it was released for free on YouTube as part of the National Theatre At Home series.
In 2016
Sarah Frankcom directed a production at the
Royal Exchange in Manchester starring
Maxine Peake
Maxine Peake (born 14 July 1974) is an English actress and narrator. She is known for her roles as Twinkle in ''Dinnerladies (TV series), dinnerladies'', a sitcom on BBC One (1998–2000), as List of Shameless (British TV series) characters#Vero ...
,
Ben Batt
Ben Batt (born 7 February 1986) is an English actor, best known for his role as Joe Pritchard in Channel 4's comedy drama '' Shameless''. He has also appeared in ''Scott & Bailey'' as DC Kevin Lumb, Alf Rutter in '' The Village'' and in ''Sire ...
,
Sharon Duncan Brewster
Sharon Duncan-Brewster (born 8 February 1976) is a British actress. She is known for her role as Imperial Planetologist Dr. Liet-Kynes in Denis Villeneuve's 2021 adaptation of Frank Herbert's ''Dune'', and before that as Crystal Gordon in '' ...
and
Youssef Kerkour
Youssef Kerkour is a Moroccan-British actor. He is best known for portraying Syrian refugee Sami in the comedy-drama series ''Home (British TV series), Home'', a role for which he was nominated at the 2020 British Academy Television Awards.
Ea ...
. It opened on 8 September and closed on 15 October. It was well-received, and Peake's performance in particular received praise.
In 2018, it headlined the third annual Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis at the Grandel Theatre. Carrie Houk, the Festival's Executive Artistic Director, and Tim Ocel, the director of the play, chose to cast the play with actors whose ages were close to Tennessee Williams' original intentions. (The birthday party is for Blanche's 30th birthday.) Sophia Brown starred as Blanche, with Nick Narcisi as Stanley, Lana Dvorak as Stella, and Spencer Sickmann as Mitch. Henry Polkes composed the original score, and James Wolk designed the set. The critics were unanimous in their praise.
The play was revived again in 2022 at London's
Almeida Theatre
The Almeida Theatre is a 325-seat producing house located on Almeida Street off Upper Street in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre opened in 1980, and produces a diverse range of drama. Successful plays are often transferred to West E ...
under the direction of
Rebecca Frecknall
Rebecca Frecknall is a British theatre director best known for directing the 2021 West End revival of ''Cabaret (musical)#2021 West End revival, Cabaret'' starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley. The show received the 2022 Olivier Award for ...
, with
Patsy Ferran
Patricia Ferran (born 25 November 1989) is a Spanish-British actress. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before becoming known for her roles on stage and screen. She has received a number of accolades including a Laurence Olivier A ...
taking the role of Blanche opposite
Paul Mescal
Paul Colm Michael Mescal ( ; born 2 February 1996) is an Irish actor. His accolades include two BAFTA Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Born in Maynooth, he studied ...
as Stanley, and
Anjana Vasan
Anjana Vasan (born 31 January 1987) is an Indian-born actress based in the United Kingdom. For her stage work, Vasan has won a Laurence Olivier Award. On television, she stars in the Channel 4 sitcom '' We Are Lady Parts'' (2021–2024), for wh ...
as Stella. The play received widespread critical acclaim and its
West End transfer became the fastest-selling production to date in any
Ambassador Theatre Group
ATG Entertainment, formerly The Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), is a major international live entertainment organisation headquartered in the United Kingdom, with offices in Woking (head office), London, New York, Sydney, Mannheim and Cologne. ...
venue. The revival received 6
Laurence Olivier Awards
The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Aw ...
nominations, winning 3; Best Revival, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress for Mescal and Vasan respectively.
In February 2024,
Sewanee: the University of the South, a liberal arts school that received much of Tennessee Williams' estate, revived the play, under the direction of James Crawford. The Tennessee Williams Center in Sewanee houses the university's theatre departments while the school owns the rights to Williams' works. With the show being sold out within days, the production received local acclaim from residents and the student body.
A
Pitlochry Festival Theatre production of the play, directed by Elizabeth Newman and with Kirsty Stuart in the role of Blanche DuBois, was staged at the
Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh in October and November 2024.
The 2022 Almeida Theatre production is scheduled to return to the West End for a limited three week run at the
Noël Coward Theatre
The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre in St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster, London. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's ...
from 3 February 2025. The show is then scheduled to transfer to New York City at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues.
BAM was chartered in 18 ...
from 28 February 2025. The entire 2022 revival cast is expected to reprise their roles.
In March 2025 a Sheffield Theatres production is running at the
Crucible Theatre
The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city.
...
in Sheffield. Directed by Josh Seymour. The cast includes
Joanna Vanderham as Blanche. With Amara Okereke as Stella, Jake Dunn as Stanley and Taylor Kovacevic-Ebong as Mitch.
Adaptations
Film

In 1951,
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
released
a film adaptation of the play, directed by
Elia Kazan
Elias Kazantzoglou (, ; September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003), known as Elia Kazan ( ), was a Greek-American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one of the most honored and inf ...
. Malden, Brando, Dennis, and Hunter reprised their Broadway roles. They were joined by
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh ( ; born Vivian Mary Hartley; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. After completing her drama school education, Leigh appeared in small roles in four films in 1935 and progress ...
from the London production in the part of Blanche. The movie won four
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...
, including three acting awards (Leigh for
Best Actress, Malden for
Best Supporting Actor and Hunter for
Best Supporting Actress), the first time a film won three out of four acting awards (Brando was nominated for
Best Actor but lost). Composer
Alex North
Alex North (born Isadore Soifer; December 4, 1910 – September 8, 1991) was an American composer best known for his many film scores, including ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (one of the first jazz-based film scores), '' Viva Zapata!'', ''Spartac ...
received an Academy Award nomination for this, his first film score. Jessica Tandy was the only lead actor from the original Broadway production not to appear in the 1951 film.
The ending was slightly altered. Stella does not remain with Stanley as she does in the play.
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (; born 25 September 1949) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and author. His films are distinguished by Melodrama (film genre), melodrama, irreverent humour, bold colour, glossy décor, quotations from popular c ...
's 1999
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
-winning film ''
All About My Mother
''All About My Mother'' () is a 1999 comedy-drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, and starring Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Candela Peña, Antonia San Juan, Penélope Cruz, Rosa Maria Sardà, and Fernando Fernán Gómez.
Th ...
'' features a Spanish-language version of the play being performed by some of the supporting characters and the play plays an important role in the film. However, some of the film's dialogue is taken from the 1951 film version, not the original stage version.
The 1973
Woody Allen
Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...
film ''
Sleeper'' includes a late scene in which Miles (Woody) and Luna (
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton (née Hall; born January 5, 1946) is an American actress. She has received List of awards and nominations received by Diane Keaton, various accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, including an Academy Award, a Bri ...
) briefly take on the roles of Stanley (Luna) and Blanche (Miles).
It was noted by many critics that the 2013 Academy Award-winning
Woody Allen
Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...
film ''
Blue Jasmine
''Blue Jasmine'' is a 2013 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The film tells the story of a rich Manhattan socialite (Cate Blanchett) who falls on hard times and has to move into her working-class sister's (Sally Hawk ...
'' had much in common with ''Streetcar'' and is most likely a loose adaptation. It shares a very similar plot and characters, although it has been suitably updated for modern film audiences.
In 2014,
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and activist. She is best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002; 2016–2018), Lily Bart in the dr ...
directed and starred in a short prequel to ''A Streetcar Named Desire'', titled ''The Departure''. The short film was written by the novelist
Andrew O'Hagan
Andrew O'Hagan (born 1968) is a Scottish novelist and non-fiction author. Three of his novels have been nominated for the Booker Prize and he has won several awards, including the ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize.
His most recent novel is ''C ...
and is part of
Young Vic
The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth.
The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Nadia Fall has been artistic director since 2025, succeeding ...
's short film series, which was produced in collaboration with ''The Guardian''.
Opera
In 1995,
an opera was adapted and composed by
André Previn
André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...
with a libretto by Philip Littell. It had its premiere at the
San Francisco Opera
The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California.
History
Gaetano Merola (1923–1953)
Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...
during the 1998–1999 season, and featured
Renée Fleming
Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano and actress, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nom ...
as Blanche.
Ballet
A 1952 ballet production with choreography by
Valerie Bettis, which
Mia Slavenska and
Frederic Franklin's Slavenska-Franklin Ballet debuted at Her Majesty's Theatre in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, featured the music of
Alex North
Alex North (born Isadore Soifer; December 4, 1910 – September 8, 1991) was an American composer best known for his many film scores, including ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (one of the first jazz-based film scores), '' Viva Zapata!'', ''Spartac ...
, who had composed the music for the 1951 film.
Another ballet production was staged by
John Neumeier
John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He was the director and principal choreographer of Hamburg Ballet from 1973 to 2024 and the artistic director of the ballet at the Hamburg State ...
in Frankfurt in 1983. Music included ''Visions fugitives'' by
Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...
and
Alfred Schnittke
Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer. Among the most performed and recorded composers of late 20th-century classical music, he is described by musicologist Ivan Moody (composer), Ivan Moody as a ...
's
First Symphony.
In the mid-2000s, another production was staged by Winthrop Corey, then artistic director of Mobile Ballet.
In 2006, a production was staged by John Alleyne, then artistic director of Ballet BC.
In 2012, Scottish Ballet collaborated with theatre and film director
Nancy Meckler
Nancy Meckler is an American-born director, known for her approach to theatre, specifically her work in the United Kingdom with Shared Experience, where she was a joint artistic director alongside Polly Teale. Educated in the US and England,Cr ...
and international choreographer
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa (born 30 April 1973) is a Belgian-Colombian international ballet dancer and choreographer based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Dance background
Born in Antwerpen to a Colombian father and a Belgian mother, Lopez Ochoa completed ...
to create a staging of ''A Streetcar Named Desire''.
In 2018, the Erkel Theatre in Budapest revisited the production with Marianna Venekei choreographing, Iurii Kekalo dancing as Stanley Kowalski, Lea Földi as Blanche DuBois, and Anna Krupp as Stella.
Television
In 1955, the television program ''
Omnibus'' featured
Jessica Tandy
Jessie Alice Tandy (7 June 1909 – 11 September 1994) was a British actress. An icon in the film industry, she appeared in over 100 stage productions and had more than 60 roles in film and TV, receiving an Academy Award, four Tony Awards, a BAF ...
reviving her original Broadway performance as Blanche, with her husband,
Hume Cronyn
Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor, screenwriter and playwright. He appeared in many stage productions, television and film roles throughout his career, and garnered numerous accolades, includ ...
, as Mitch. It aired only portions of the play that featured the Blanche and Mitch characters.
The 1984 television version featured
Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret Olsson (born 28 April 1941), credited as Ann-Margret, is a Swedish-American actress and singer with a career spanning seven decades. Her many screen roles include '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' Bye Bye B ...
as Blanche,
Treat Williams
Richard Treat Williams Jr. (December 1, 1951 – June 12, 2025) was an American actor, whose career on stage and in film and television spanned five decades. He received many accolades for his work, including nominations for three Golden Globe ...
as Stanley,
Beverly D'Angelo
Beverly Heather D'Angelo (born November 15, 1951) is an American actress who starred as Ellen Griswold in the '' National Lampoon's Vacation'' films (1983–2015). She has appeared in over 60 films and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for ...
as Stella and
Randy Quaid
Randy Randall Rudy Quaid (born October 1, 1950) is an American actor and comedian known for his roles in both serious drama and light comedy.
He was nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for his role in '' The ...
as Mitch. It was directed by
John Erman
John Erman (August 3, 1935 – June 25, 2021) was an American television director, producer, and actor. He was nominated for ten Primetime Emmy Awards, winning once for the film ''Who Will Love My Children?'' (1983). He also won two Directors Gu ...
and the teleplay was adapted by
Oscar Saul. The music score by composed by
Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 – August 6, 2012) was an American composer and conductor. He is one of a handful of people to win Emmy Awards, Emmy, Grammy Awards, Grammy, Academy Awards, Oscar, and Tony Awards, Tony awards, a feat ...
. Ann-Margret, D'Angelo and Quaid were all nominated for
Emmy Awards
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
, but none won. However, it did win four Emmys, including one for cinematographer
Bill Butler. Ann-Margret won a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...
award for her performance, and Treat Williams was nominated for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie.
A 1995 television version was based on the highly successful Broadway revival that starred
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama. He has received List of awards and nominations received by A ...
and
Jessica Lange
Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. With a career spanning over five decades, she is known for her roles Jessica Lange on screen and stage, on stage and screen. She has received List of awards and nominati ...
. However, only Baldwin and Lange were from the stage production. The TV version added
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He rose to prominence in television before becoming an acclaimed and popular film actor. Goodman has received List of awards and nominations received by John Goodman, various acc ...
as Mitch and
Diane Lane
Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.
Lane made her film debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Littl ...
as Stella. This production was directed by
Glenn Jordan. Baldwin, Lange and Goodman all received
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
nominations. Lange won a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...
award (for Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie), and Baldwin was nominated for Best Actor.
In 1998, PBS aired a taped version of the opera adaptation that featured the original
San Francisco Opera
The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California.
History
Gaetano Merola (1923–1953)
Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...
cast. The program received an
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
nomination for Outstanding Classical Music/Dance Program.
In a 1992 episode of ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'', "
A Streetcar Named Marge
"A Streetcar Named Marge" is the second episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on Fox in the United States on October 1, 1992. In the episode, Marge wins the role of Blanche DuB ...
", a musical version of the play, titled ''Oh, Streetcar!'', was featured.
Ned Flanders
Nedward "Ned" Flanders Jr., commonly referred to by his surname, is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Harry Shearer and first appearing in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an ...
and
Marge Simpson
Marjorie Jacqueline "Marge" Simpson () is a character in the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and part of the eponymous family (The Simpsons). Voiced by Julie Kavner, she first appeared on television in '' The Tracey Ullman Show'' s ...
took the leading roles as Stanley and Blanche, respectively.
In a 2016 episode of ''
The Originals'', titled "A Streetcar Named Desire", Klaus Mikaelson and Elijah Mikaelson are forced to face two siblings, Tristan and Aurora de Martel, once friends but now foes.
Inspirations

The Desire Line ran from 1920 to 1948, at the height of streetcar use in New Orleans. The route ran down Royal, through the Quarter, to
Desire Street
Desire Street is a street in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States. In his 1949 book ''Frenchmen, Desire, Good Children, and Other Streets of New Orleans'', John Churchill Chase claims the street is named for Désirée Gautier Montrieul ...
in the
Bywater district, and back up to Canal. Blanche's route in the play—"They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at—Elysian Fields!"—is allegorical, taking advantage of New Orleans's colorful street names: the Desire line crossed
Elysian Fields Avenue
Elysian Fields Avenue is a broad, straight avenue in New Orleans named after the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. It courses south to north from the Lower Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain, a distance of approximately . The avenue ...
on its way to Canal Street. There, one could transfer to the Cemeteries line, which ran along Canal, blocks away from Elysian Fields.
The character of Blanche is thought to be based on Williams' sister, Rose Williams, who struggled with mental health problems and became incapacitated after a
lobotomy
A lobotomy () or leucotomy is a discredited form of Neurosurgery, neurosurgical treatment for mental disorder, psychiatric disorder or neurological disorder (e.g. epilepsy, Depression in childhood and adolescence, depression) that involves sev ...
. The success of the play enabled Williams to finance his sister's care. Other biographical elements include Williams' mother being a Southern lady reflected in the Southern background of Stella and Blanche, and his father being a travelling salesman (as reflected in Stanley's character) who enjoyed drinking and playing poker with his friends. Williams was born in Columbus, Mississippi and had a family home in St. Louis. The common motifs of homosexuality and mental illness in the play come from his struggle with his sexual orientation and his experience with his sister's mental illness. Stanley's loathing for Blanche's prim and proper attitude probably was inspired by Williams's father's aversion to his mother's Southern airs.
The theatre critic and former actress
Blanche Marvin, a friend of Williams, says the playwright used her name for the character Blanche DuBois, named the character's sister Stella after Marvin's former surname Zohar (which means Star), and took the play's line "I've always depended on the kindness of strangers" from something she said to him.
"A Streetcar Named Success"
"
A Streetcar Named Success" is an essay by
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...
about art and the artist's role in society. It often is included in paper editions of ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. A version of this essay first appeared in ''The New York Times'' on November 30, 1947, four days before the opening of ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. Another version of this essay, titled "The Catastrophe of Success", is sometimes used as an introduction to ''
The Glass Menagerie
''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his histrionic mo ...
''.
Awards and nominations
1948 Original Production
1992 Broadway Revival
1988 Broadway Revival
2003 London Revival
2005 Broadway Revival
2010 London Revival
2015 London Production
2023 London Production
2024 Off-Broadway Production
References
External links
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Werner, Stephen A."In Search of Stanley Kowalski" ''St. Louis Cultural History Project'' (Summer 2022).
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1947 plays
1952 ballets
American plays adapted into films
Broadway plays
Domestic violence in fiction
LGBTQ-related plays
Fiction about mental health
New York Drama Critics' Circle Award winners
Off-Broadway plays
Plays about gambling
Plays adapted into ballets
Plays adapted into operas
Plays by Tennessee Williams
Plays set in New Orleans
Pulitzer Prize for Drama–winning works
Fiction about rape
West End plays
New Directions Publishing books