A Streetcar Named Desire

Nov 27—Dec 20*

By Tennessee Williams
Sydney Theatre Company
Directed By Liv Ullmann

"...how often do you get to watch an actress of such virtuosity pulling out every stop of her instrument and then some?" —The New York Times on Cate Blanchett

Tennessee Williams has a way with his women. Both sympathetic and merciless, he cuts to their core, revealing their longing, vulnerability, and pride. His most poignant creation—and the dream role of every leading actress—may be the narcissistic and deeply troubled Blanche DuBois of A Streetcar Named Desire.

An aging Southern beauty, Blanche is all artifice, pomposity, and need, traits that Cate Blanchett, a transcendent performer (who made her New York stage debut at BAM in 2006 as an unforgettable Hedda Gabler), conveys with the most delicate balance of hysteria and pathos. Playing off of Joel Edgerton as the remorseless monster Stanley, and Robin McLeavy, as her conflicted sister Stella, Blanchett and the outstanding ensemble cast of the Sydney Theatre Company bring new life to this celebrated work.

Liv Ullmann—whose own soul-baring performances in the films of Ingmar Bergman defined an era—directs, granting Williams' fraught characters a full spectrum of emotions while witnessing the old South's losing battle against a coarse modern world.

BAM Harvey Theater
190min with intermission
Tickets: Tue—Thu: $30, 65, 95; Fri—Sun: $40, 80, 120

*Nov 27 & 28, Dec 1, 2, 4, 5, 8—12, 15—19 at 7:30pm
Nov 28, Dec 2, 5, 9, 12, 16, & 19 at 2pm
Nov 29, Dec 6, 13, 20 at 3pm
Dec 3 at 8pm (Belle Rêve Gala)

Set design by Ralph Myers
Costume design by Tess Schofield
Lighting design by Nick Schlieper
Sound design by Paul Charlier

Vogue’s feature on Cate Blanchett
“At the height of her movie stardom, Cate Blanchett puts her commitment to the theater center stage—and…takes on one of the great dramatic roles of all time.” More

Variety reviews the opening of Sydney Theater Company’s A Streetcar Named Desire
“With Liv Ullmann at the helm as director, the Sydney Theater Company's enthralling production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire looks set to be an Antipodean hit…”

The Sydney Morning Herald on the world premiere of Sydney Theater Company’s A Streetcar Named Desire
“… Blanchett's performance is a brilliant demonstration of range and control…the more she comes apart at the seams, the more grippingly real she becomes.”

The Australian applauds the debut of Sydney Theater Company’s A Streetcar Named Desire
“Liv Ullmann's production…reminds us how shocking this great play was and still is. It is rivetingly involving.”