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A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947.[1] The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of personal losses, leaves her once-prosperous situation to move into a shabby apartment in New Orleans rented by her younger sister Stella and brother-in-law Stanley.

For other uses, see A Streetcar Named Desire (disambiguation).

A Streetcar Named Desire

December 3, 1947

English

A Streetcar Named Desire is one of the most critically acclaimed plays of the 20th century[2] 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.[3]

Name[edit]

Blanche is mentioned in the play to arrive at Stella's apartment riding in a streetcar of the Desire streetcar line. 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.[4]

as Blanche DuBois

Jessica Tandy

as Harold "Mitch" Mitchell

Karl Malden

as Stanley Kowalski

Marlon Brando

as Stella Kowalski

Kim Hunter

as Steve Hubbell

Rudy Bond

as Pablo Gonzales

Nick Dennis

as Eunice Hubbell

Peg Hillias

Vito Christi as Young Collector

as Doctor

Richard Garrick

Ann Dere as Nurse (later called the Matron)

as Negro Woman

Gee Gee James

as Mexican Woman

Edna Thomas

"A Streetcar Named Success"[edit]

"A Streetcar Named Success" is an essay by Tennessee Williams 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.

1948 New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play

1948 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play –

Jessica Tandy

1948 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

1992 Theater World Award for Best Actress in a Play –

Jessica Lange

2003 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Play –

Essie Davis

2010 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play –

Rachel Weisz

2010 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Play –

Ruth Wilson

2023 Olivier Award for Best Revival

2023 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play -

Paul Mescal

2023 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Play -

Anjana Vasan

at the Internet Broadway Database

​A Streetcar Named Desire​ (New York productions chronology)

at the Playbill Vault

​A Streetcar Named Desire​