A STREET CAR NAMED DESIRE

By: Tennessee Williams

Alisa Howell, Haley Fugate, Jared Justice, Matthew Hill, and Abdulrahman

Alajmi

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

• Born in Columbus, Mississippi on March 26, 1911.

• Died on February 25, 1983 in NYC, New York.

• Literary Influences: William Shakespeare, D. H. Lawrence, William Faulkner,

Thomas Wolfe, Emily Dickinson, and Ernest Hemingway

• Childhood: Many critics and historians note that Williams found inspiration for

much of his writing in his own dysfunctional family.

SUMMARY

DESIRE

A Streetcar Named

Desire

By Tennessee Williams

PLANS

• Location: on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre

• Budget: $80,000

• Run: August 2015

• Ticket price: $200 Regular Admission; $1000 Balcony Box Tickets; $100 Senior

Citizen Admissions

SET

SET

LIGHTING

• Scene I (very beginning) colored lights

Lights in the streetcar and headlight and light change when Blanche gets off

Eunice & Blanche enter apartment

Blanche: “Turn that over-light off!”

LIGHTING

• Scene X:

Stanley enters apartment

Grotesque shadows appear behind Blanche

Blanche DuBois:• Middle Aged

• High School English Teacher

• Spouse Killed Himself

• Insecure

• Aging

• Southern Belle

• Vain

Scene 1 :

Scene 10:

Scene 1:

Stella Kowalski:• Southern Belle

• Blanches Sister

• Pregnant

• Wife

• Left home to find work

• Married to Stanley

Stanley Kowalski:• WWII Veteran

• Animal Nature

• Raped Blanche

• Factory Part Salesman

• Bad Temper

• Beats Stella

Harold Mitchell:• Poker Player

• Sensitive

• Built

• Wants to settle down

• Like Blanche

SOUND

• In our production, Scene One will start with the sound of the streetcar arriving.

• Lighting will also play a very important role in this symbolic scene.

SOUND & MUSIC

• Music plays a major role in this play, as it serves as a motif for Blanche, as well as

establishing the mood in the scenes.

• The polka song “Varsouviana” plays and serves as a reminder of Blanche’s instability as she

hears the music playing in her head.

SOUND & MUSIC

• The “Blue Piano” is another major musical aspect in the play. (In Scene 1 & 10)

• It expresses the spirit of life in the play.

• A live piano player would be ideal to ensure that the audience understands the

mood.

CASTING

• Sarah Paulson as Blanche

CASTING

• Lily Rabe as Stella

CASTING

• Dylan McDermott as Stanley

CASTING

• Zachary Quinto as Mitch