This June Pitlochry Festival Theatre is set to stage an exciting and rare Scottish revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams’ powerful and iconic portrayal of love, lust and loneliness.
New Orleans. 1940s. Blanche arrives at her sister’s tiny apartment in the lively French Quarter of the city, her world falling apart and haunted by the loss of the family’s luxurious Southern mansion. With broken dreams and a desperate desire to cling on to her freedom, Blanche seeks comfort from her sister, Stella. But as tensions – and passions – rise, Blanche finds herself thrown into a catastrophic confrontation with Stella’s husband Stanley.
Generally regarded as one of the finest plays of the 20th century, Streetcar is also considered by many to be Tennessee Williams’ greatest work. It first premiered on Broadway on December 3, 1947, launching the careers of, amongst others, Marlon Brando, Jessica Tandy and Kim Hunter. The London production opened in 1949, directed by Laurence Olivier featuring Vivien Leigh as Blanche. In 1951, the play was adapted for the screen starring Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh and won four Academy Awards.
Leading A Streetcar Named Desire’s impressive cast will be Kirsty Stuart (Adventures with the Painted People and Faith Healer, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Othello, Frantic Assembly, Call The Midwife, BBC and Shetland, BBC Scotland) as Blanche DuBois; Nalini Chetty (Cyrano, Citizens Theatre/NTS, Zinnie Hassoun in River City, BBC and will shortly be seen in Gregory Burke’s new ITV Drama Six-Four) as Stella Kowalski and Matthew Trevannion (War Horse, National Theatre World Tour, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, West End and Othello, Frantic Assembly) as Stanley Kowalski.
The cast is completed by Matthew Churcher (Animal Farm, National Tour/Fiery Angel & Birmingham Rep, Peter Pan, National Theatre/Bristol Old Vic and White Teeth, Kiln Theatre); Oliver Cookson (Hay Fever and Travels with my Aunt, Assembly Roxy) Deirdre Davis (Eileen Donachie in River City, BBC Scotland and Monarch of The Glen, Pitlochry Festival Theatre); Keith Macpherson (Sunshine on Leith, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Waiting for Godot, Citizens Theatre and Stan and Ollie, BBC Films); Patricia Panther (Peter Pan and Wendy, Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Orphans and Glasgow Girls, National Theatre of Scotland); Marc Small (TV credits include The IT Crowd, Jonathan Creek and recently appeared in the Amazon Prime film The People We Hate At The Wedding with Ben Platt); Jack Ward (Bridgerton, Netflix) and Kristin Weichen Wong (Field- Something For The Future Now, Edinburgh International Festival).
A Streetcar Named Desire is directed by Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Artistic Director Elizabeth Newman (Faith Healer, Sunshine on Leith and Adventures with the Painted People, Pitlochry Festival Theatre); designed by Emily James, lighting by Jeanine Byrne, music composed and sound design by Pippa Murphy and fight direction by Robin Hellier.
Director Elizabeth Newman said: “I believe A Streetcar Named Desire is one of the greatest plays ever written. Tennessee Williams wrote this drama with a very clear objective: to help humanity get to know itself better and well enough to concede that no person has a monopoly on right or virtue any more than they have on ‘being evil’. He was determined to be honest about the contradictions that all human beings possess within themselves. He beautifully draws the inescapable duplicity that everyone who lives and breathes is afflicted by. What makes it an exceptional play is Williams demands we face up to the truth that in this life there are no villains or heroes instead just people making decisions.
I cannot wait to bring this play to life for audiences this Summer. Audiences can expect to be transported to 1940s New Orleans and, whilst bathing in this setting, experience a compelling family drama with the chance to spend time with some of the world’s most legendary characters. We can promise it’ll be intense and powerful thanks to the Theatre’s fantastic Ensemble. great creative team and Williams’ astonishing writing leading the charge.”
The production is presented by special arrangement with the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee.
A Streetcar Named Desire runs at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 02 June till 30 September. Tickets are now on sale and are available from the Pitlochry Festival Theatre box office on 01796 484626 or online at www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com
