Overview
Synopsis
Explosive, passionate, and heartrending, A Streetcar Named Desire is modern American theatre at its best. When fading Southern belle Blanche DuBois arrives on the doorstep of her sister Stella’s apartment building in New Orleans, she is unwittingly entering a lion’s den. Wounded by romantic abuses, loss, and dangerous mistakes, Blanche prefers her world kept in dim, flattering light, fuzzy at the edges. She is shocked by Stella’s simple existence, her new low-class habits, and most of all, her crude, simple husband, Stanley. Stanley is fierce and unpredictable, moving from violence to softness in an instant, and he and Blanche begin a cruel, sadistic dance where the only possible end is pain. With his signature poetic prose, muggy Southern Gothic setting, and psychological insight, Tennessee Williams’ mighty play, and his troubled, eccentric heroine, unravel before our very eyes.
Show Information
- Book
- Tennessee Williams
- Category
- Play
- Age Guidance
- Mature Audiences (M)
- Number of Acts
- 2
- First Produced
- 1947
- Genres
- Drama
- Settings
- Unit/Single Set
- Time & Place
- new orleans, 1940s
- Cast Size
- medium
- Orchestra Size
- None
- Dancing
- None
- Licensor
- Concord Theatricals
- Ideal For
- College/University, Diverse Cast, Mature Audiences, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Star Vehicle Female, Star Vehicle Male, Includes Adult, Late Teen, Young Adult Characters, Medium Cast
Context
Tennessee Williams was born in 1911 in New Orleans, LA, into a family with a complex, often violent dynamic. He followed his father into the shoe factory business, where he met a man named Stanley Kowalski, after whom the famed character in A Streetcar Named Desire was named. As longtime collaborator and Streetcar’s first director, Elia Kazan, stated, “Everything in [Williams’] life is in his plays, and everything in his plays is in his life.” Streetcar opened on Broadway at the Ethel
to read the context for A Streetcar Named Desire and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Plot
The play opens on the exterior of Elysian Fields, a two-story building between the train tracks and the river in New Orleans. Jazz piano music wafts through the air along with muddled conversation. On the stairs outside the building are Eunice (Stella and Stanley’s upstairs neighbor and landlord) and an African-American woman, also a resident of the neighborhood. Stanley arrives with his pal, Mitch, and calls up to his wife Stella, who appears on the first floor balcony. Gruffly, he tosses
to read the plot for A Streetcar Named Desire and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Female |
Non-singer |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
|
Ensemble |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Ensemble |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Ensemble |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Ensemble |
Female |
Spoken |
Songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
A legendary acting school in New York City, known for pioneering method acting and training elite performers.
Large divisions of a play, typically structured to build dramatic tension and support narrative flow.
A mythological paradise used in drama to symbolize peace after death, as in Tennessee Williams' 'A Streetcar Named Desire'.
A character trait indicating excessive talkativeness, often used in comedies to highlight eccentricity or humor.
A heightened, emotional style of performance or storytelling that exaggerates plot and character traits. Melodrama is often associated with 19th century theatre and explores themes of good versus evil.
A subdivision of a play or opera defined by continuous action in one setting. Scenes help organize dramatic structure and transitions, often marked by changes in characters or locations.
A dramatic style set in the American South, focusing on decay, eccentricity, and moral failures, often using symbolism and grotesque characters.
Refers to Stanislavski’s acting method focusing on realism, emotional truth, and character motivation in performance.
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Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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