Pulitzer-winning drama staged at Red Curtain in Marysville
Published 1:30 am Friday, January 27, 2017
“A Streetcar Named Desire” — Tennessee Williams’ classic tale of death, desire and desperation — comes to life through Feb. 12 on the Red Curtain Arts Center stage in Marysville.
Written in 1947, the play was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1948.
The story involves Blanche and Stella DuBois, who grew up in the privileged South of the 1910s. Having lost the family’s entire fortune and property, Blanche finds herself crawling to her now-married younger sister’s home in the slums of New Orleans, arriving via the Desire line streetcar.
Clutching to the life she once knew and unable to come to terms with the reality of her situation, Blanche slowly descends into madness as her life is stripped away to reveal the labyrinth of lies underneath her carefully constructed surface.
The first Broadway production starred Jessica Tandy (who won a Tony award) as Blanche, Kim Hunter as her sister Stella, and Marlon Brando as Stella’s husband Stanley under the direction of Elia Kazan. The 1951 film cast, also directed by Kazan, had Hunter (who won an Oscar for best supporting actress) and Brando reprising their roles. They were joined by Vivien Leigh, who had played the part of Blanche in the London play production and won a best-actress Oscar for the film.
The drama, directed by at Red Curtain by Scott Randall, is filled with tension and intrigue, exploring the tenuous hold on self-deception and sanity that finally gives way to the truth. Because of its emotional power and the adult situations involved, the play is not recommended for children, Randall said.
The Red Curtain cast members all are Snohomish County actors. Tackling the lead roles are Erin Carter as Blanche, Hailey Thomas as Stella and Brandon Borrmann as Stanley.
If you go
“A Streetcar Named Desire” plays at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights and 2 p.m. Sundays through Feb. 12 at the Red Curtain Arts Center, 9315 State Ave., Suite J (in the Goodwill shopping center, behind the Everett Community College cosmetology school).
Tickets are $17 for adults and $14 for seniors, students and military personnel.
Buy tickets online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2734706, by phone at 360-322-7402 or at the box office 2-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. More information, is available at www.redcurtainfoundation.org or www.facebook.com/RedCurtainFoundation.
