Williams uses a flexible set so that the audience simultaneously sees the interior and the exterior of the apartment. Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her. The story unfolds over a set time period (of roughly six months); it occurs within a single setting (within and around the Kowalski apartment); and it adheres to a single plot (the escalating conflict between Stanley Kowalski and Blanche DuBois). [13] The production would mark Natasha Richardson's final appearance on Broadway prior to her death in 2009 following a skiing accident. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. That Rattle-trap Streetcar Named Desire. As the weeks pass, the friction between Blanche and Stanley continues to grow. It was critically well received with Peake's performance in particular singled out for praise. [2] It still ranks among his most performed plays, and has inspired many adaptations in other forms, notably a critically acclaimed film that was released in 1951.[3]. [27]. Continue to start your free trial. Pedro Almodvar's 1999 Academy Award-winning film All About My Mother features a Spanish-language version of the play being performed by some of the supporting characters and the play itself plays an important role in the film. What further affects the relationship between the three is that Stella is in the early stage of pregnancy with her and Stanley's first child. Despite its shocking scenes and gritty dialogue, the audience applauded the debut performance. The 1973 Woody Allen film Sleeper includes a late scene in which Miles (Woody) and Luna (Diane Keaton) briefly take on the roles of Stanley (Luna) and Blanche (Miles). Instant PDF downloads. Blanche is in real need of a protector at this stage in her life when circumstances lead her into paying a visit to her younger sister Stella in New Orleans. When Stanley recovers, he cries out from the courtyard below for Stella to come back by repeatedly calling her name until she comes down and allows herself to be carried off to bed. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. She attempts to resist him, but Stanley overpowers her with physical force: Tigertiger! The next morning, Stella is calm and radiant, while Blanche is still hysterical. The other men douse Stanley in the shower, which sobers him up, and he is remorseful. Blanche reproached her husband while they were dancing the Varsouviana Polka, and her husband committed suicide. You'll be billed after your free trial ends. But Stanley and Stella are deeply in love. Their chat becomes flirtatious and friendly, and Blanche easily charms him; they like each other. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. A Streetcar Named Desire Study Guide | Literature Guide | LitCharts Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Teachers and parents! Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan! He then goes bowling and Stella follows. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. The Desire streetcar line operated in New Orleans from 1920 to 1948, going through the French Quarter to its final stop on Desire Street. [20] In 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdowns it was released for free on YouTube as part of the National Theatre At Home series. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! When Mitch -- a card-playing buddy of Stanley's -- arrives on the scene, Blanche begins to see a way out of her predicament. Continue to start your free trial. I sayHa!Ha! He bursts out of the bathroom in his brilliant silk pajamas, and advances on Blanche. Troubled former schoolteacher Blanche DuBois as she leaves small-town Mississippi and moves in with her sister, Stella Kowalski and her husband, Stanley, in New Orleans. [3] Tandy was cast after Williams saw her performance in a West Coast production of his one-act play Portrait of a Madonna. The 2005 Broadway revival was directed by Edward Hall and produced by The Roundabout Theater Company. Blanche DuBois, a high school English teacher with an aristocratic background from Auriol, Mississippi, decides to move to live with her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski, in New Orleans after creditors take over the family property, Belle Reve. Blanche and Mitch flirt. We later learn she suffers from guilt due to the way she had reacted to finding out her husband's homosexuality and his fatal reaction. Stella, Mitch and the landlady seem in agreement that Blanche is an innocent flower ravaged by wartime whom Stanley destroyed with his crude bullying. The protagonist in A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois, suffers a tragic downfall, but Blanche's fate is not death, as would occur in an Aristotelian tragedy. She eventually confesses that the stories are true. Alex North's A Streetcar Named Desire : A Film Score Guide, Paperback Blanche hangs a paper lantern over a bare bulb. Mitch boasts of his strapping manliness, but by speaking quantitatively about his athleticism rather than stripping his sweaty shirt and baring his torso. A Streetcar Named Desire is a tragic drama. One of the most admired plays of its time, it concerns the mental and moral disintegration and ultimate ruin of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle. A Streetcar Named Desire Scene 1 Summary and Analysis It was staged at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, where the original production was staged. Mitch is somewhat unaware that Blanche has somewhat controlled their courtship to put herself in the best possible light, both figuratively and literally. Williams himself was born in Mississippi and had a family home in St. Louis. Stanley comes in and is apparently irritated. The original Broadway production closed, after 855 performances, in 1949. Mitch does not hide the fact that he is looking in general to get married because of a personal issue, he wanting Blanche ultimately to be his wife. Blanche collapses on the floor and Stanley is last seen taking her unconscious into his bed. A Streetcar Named Desire | play by Williams | Britannica Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her. You'll be billed after your free trial ends. Yet, as rumors of Blanche's past in Auriol begin to catch up to her, her circumstances become unbearable. to start your free trial of SparkNotes Plus. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. Blanche arranges a visit to see her sister in New Orleans and shows up on Stanley's doorstop obviously annoyed that there is neither a guest bedroom for herself nor a master bedroom for her sister and brother-in-law, in their cramped, dingy apartment in a bustling quarter of the city. Renews March 10, 2023 Directed by Benedict Andrews and starring Gillian Anderson, Ben Foster, Vanessa Kirby and Corey Johnson; this production garnered critical acclaim and is the fastest selling show ever produced by the Young Vic. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. It was directed by John Erman and the teleplay was adapted by Oscar Saul. There is surrealistic moment, to be individually sorted out by each viewer, when Blanche insists she is going to cut up Stanley's face with the jagged edges of a broken liquor bottle and then insists he is going to rape her. A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1995 American drama television film produced and directed by Glenn Jordan and starring Alec Baldwin, Jessica Lange, John Goodman and Diane Lane.It aired on CBS on October 29, 1995. Blanche sometimes exaggerates the formality of her language for effect: You may release me now (Scene Six, p. 63). You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. Williams uses a flexible set so that the audience simultaneously sees the interior and the exterior of the apartment. Blanche melodramatically tells Mitch about her tragic love life: when she was sixteen, she married an effeminate young man who turned out to be homosexual. When Blanche emerges from the bath, she is delusional, worrying about the cleanness of the grapes and speaking of drowning in the sea. Coupled with a pair of superb supporting performances that amplify and escalate the whole to a unique plateau, you'll feel as though you've been run down by an out of control steam train, flattened by a steamroller to be reformed in a furnace fuelled by fear, frustration and desire. As the film progresses, the set of the Kowalski apartment actually gets smaller to heighten the suggestion of Blanche's increasing claustrophobia. The story touches Mitch, who tells Blanche that they need each other. Blanche's flirtatious Southern-belle presence causes problems for Stella and Stanley, who already have a volatile relationship, leading to even greater conflict in the Kowalski household. From the first scene, Blanche is nervous and jittery. But in Stanley's quest to find out the truth about Belle Reve and Blanche's life in Auriol, the interrelationships between Stanley, Blanche, Stella and Mitch may be irrevocably affected, with any revelation about that life which may further destroy what's left of Blanche's already damaged mental state. Blanche fervently flirts with him and kisses him on the mouth before Mitch arrives. 'A Streetcar Named Desire' Summary - ThoughtCo Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. A pair of queens? (Scene Eight, p. 77). Stellas ties to New Orleans rather than the lost Belle Reve are further emphasized through her pregnancy: she is bringing a new Kowalski, not a DuBois, life into the world. Blanche's sexuality is decaying and unstable, while Stella, on the other hand, responds to Stanley's thrown meat of the first scene with a gasp and a giggle, which has clear sexual connotations. The critics were unanimous in their praise. We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Discount, Discount Code [4] Brooks Atkinson, reviewing the opening in The New York Times, described Tandy's "superb performance" as "almost incredibly true", concluding that Williams "has spun a poignant and luminous story."[5]. Stanley tells Stella all about Blanches sordid history in Laurel, as Blanche sings Paper Moon from the bathroom (Its a Barnum and Bailey world / Just as phony as it can be / But it wouldnt be make-believe / If you believed in me!). In 1951, Warner Bros. released a film adaptation of the play, directed by Elia Kazan. [8], In 1972, American composer Frances Ziffer set A Streetcar Named Desire to music. She pleads for forgiveness. Want 100 or more? Elijah references this as a weapon against her (and her brother to a lesser degree as he was her caretaker). A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) - IMDb for a group? Jessica Tandy was the only lead actor from the original Broadway production not to appear in the 1951 film. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Blanche quotes the stern formal terms in which she was condemned: This woman is morally unfit for her position! (Scene Nine, p. 87). Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more! "is allegorical, taking advantage of New Orleans's colorful street names: the Desire line itself crossed Elysian Fields Avenue on its way to Canal Street. Stanley comes home from the hospital to get some rest before the baby comes. What was the official certification given to A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) in Spain? She is also deceptive and is critical of her sister and brother-in-law. Lastly theres Social Realism, because of the plays frank treatment of issues like immigration, class, gender roles, and power plays between women and men.All that creepy shadows-on-the-wall voices-in-Blanches-head stuff that we talked about also explains the plays categorization as Southern Gothic. Yes, a big spider! A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film) - Wikipedia In contrast to Stellas self-effacing, deferential nature and Blanches pretentious, refined airs, Stellas husband Stanley Kowalski exudes raw, animal, violent sexuality. SparkNotes PLUS Blanche has apparently told Stella about the rape, but Stella refuses to believe her. Blanche Arrives in New Orleans It was produced by the Lincoln Center, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, and starred Rosemary Harris as Blanche, James Farentino as Stanley and Patricia Conolly as Stella. Stanley, in return, is suspicious of Blanche, does not care for her manners and resents her presence which is already interfering with his regimented but hedonistic lifestyle. Struggling with distance learning? Summary. Another ballet production was staged by John Neumeier in Frankfurt in 1983. A telling interlude has Stanley striking Stella for interfering with his treatment of Blanche. Blanche wants Stanley to give up his weekly card game and his weekly bowling tournament with his friends including Mitch (Malden), to stay at home always sweating in his dirtied work clothes because he will have no place to wash and change with a lady in his house, sitting silent like a statue, until he decides it is time to just turn his paycheck over to Stella and move out so Blanche can rule the roost. In this case, the fantasy enters the picture when the audience gets to see and hear some of Blanche's imagined horrors: shadows on the wall, the eerie . Renews March 10, 2023 Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. A Streetcar Named Desire Summary Next Scene 1 The play is set in the shabby but rakishly charming New Orleans of the 1940s. creating and saving your own notes as you read. Family factors in big-time to all the dramatic goings-on, from Blanche and Stanley (brother and sister-in-law) to Stanley and Stella (husband and wife) to Stella and Blanche (sisters). Williams believed that casting Brando, who was young for the part as it was originally conceived, would evolve Kowalski from being a vicious older man to someone whose unintentional cruelty can be attributed to youthful ignorance. "A Streetcar Named Desire" is a play by Tennessee Williams. Blanche was played by Bette Bourne as "man in a dress", Stanley was played by Peggy Shaw as a "butch lesbian", Mitch was played by Paul Shaw as a "fairy disguised as a man", and Stella was played by Lois Weaver as a "woman disguised as a woman".[37]. [10], The spring 1988 revival at the Circle in the Square Theatre starred Aidan Quinn opposite Blythe Danner as Blanche and Frances McDormand as Stella. A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1951 American Southern Gothic drama film adapted from Tennessee Williams 's Pulitzer Prize -winning play of the same name. The first all-black production of Streetcar was likely performed by the Summer Theatre Company at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, in August 1953 and directed by one of Williams's former classmates at Iowa, Thomas D. Pawley, as noted in the Streetcar edition of the "Plays in Production" series published by Cambridge University Press. Mitch, himself alone in the world, reveres Blanche as a beautiful and refined woman. $24.99 Sharon Friedman. An English teacher (though hardly a schoolmarm), dressed in all white, she is delicate and moth-like. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) - Plot - IMDb A Streetcar Named Desire: Study Guide | SparkNotes The way the content is organized, Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Gandolfini was Carhart's understudy.[12]. Carrie Houk, the Festival's Executive Artistic Director, and Tim Ocel, the director of the play, chose to cast the play with actors whose ages were close to Tennessee Williams' original intentions. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. Blanche DuBois arrives to visit her sister, Mrs. Stella Kowalski, who lives in the French Quarter of New Orleans. After being exiled from her hometown of Laurel, Mississippi, for seducing a seventeen-year-old boy at the school where she taught English, Blanche explains her unexpected appearance on Stanley and Stella's (Blanche's sister) doorstep as nervous exhaustion. In 1955, the television program Omnibus featured Jessica Tandy reviving her original Broadway performance as Blanche, with her husband, Hume Cronyn, as Mitch. It was noted by many critics that the 2013 Academy Award-winning Woody Allen film Blue Jasmine had much in common with Streetcar and is most likely a loose adaptation. When Stella intervenes to try and make peace, Stanley hits her. on 50-99 accounts. Read about another tragic drama, Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman. Besides from the opening scene, the entirety of the . Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2009. 22, 23). This theatrical piece creates a "Brechtian 'epic drama'" that relies on the reflective rather than emotional involvement of the audiencea "commentary on the sexual roles and games in Williams's text". Movie Info. Blanche tries to telephone Mitch but doesnt get through; Stanley, Stella, and the audience know what Mitch knows, though Blanche does not. A Streetcar Named Desireis one of Tennessee Williams's most famous plays. Sometimes it can end up there. Scene 1 Quotes They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and transfer to one called Cemeteries, and ride six blocks and get off atElysian Fields! When her sister comes, Blanche quite frankly criticizes the place. Stella admits that she is thrilled by Stanleys aggression, and that even though Blanche wants her to leave, shes not in anything that [she has] a desire to get out of. Blanche suggests that they contact Shep Huntleigh, a Dallas millionaire, to help them escape. A Streetcar Named Desire (disambiguation), Streetcars in New Orleans Historic lines, "Original Review of 'A Streetcar Named Desire', "Production of A Streetcar Named Desire Theatricalia", "A Tribute From Tennessee Williams To 'Heroic Tallulah Bankhead', "A Rare 'Streetcar'; Fresh Approach Taken at Vivian Beaumont", "Blair Underwood On Stanley, Stella And 'Streetcar', "Gillian Anderson: Self destruction is my default mode", "St. Ann's Warehouse A Young Vic & Joshua Andrews Co-Production", "Maxine Peake stalks to the heart of Blanche DuBois", "A Streetcar Named Desire with Paul Mescal transfers to West End", "A Streetcar Named Desire with Patsy Ferran, Paul Mescal and Anjana Vasan sells out in two hours and breaks records", "Olivier Awards 2023 nominations announced see the full list", "Movie Review: Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine Is Perhaps His Cruelest-Ever Film", "Blue Jasmine: Woody Allen's excellent homage to A Streetcar Named Desire", "Gillian Anderson goes back to Blanche for prequel to A Streetcar Named Desire", "A Streetcar Named Desire A Streetcar Named Desire", "A Streetcar Named Desire Ballet in Budapest", "Critic claims 'I was the inspiration for Blanche DuBois', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Streetcar_Named_Desire&oldid=1142430166, Ann Dere as Nurse (later called the Matron), 1948 New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play, 1948 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, 1992 Theater World Award for Best Actress in a Play, 2003 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Play , 2010 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play, 2010 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Play , 1988 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play, 1988 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, 1992 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, 2005 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, 2005 Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Play, 2005 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Play, 2010 Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Play, 2015 Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Play, 2015 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play, 2023 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play -, 2023 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play -, 2023 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Play -, 2023 Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design, This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 09:38. Stanley Kowalski's buddies come over to the house to play cards and one of them, Mitch, finds Blanche attractive until Stanley tells him about what kind of a woman Blanche really is. The movie won four Academy Awards, including three acting awards (Leigh for Best Actress, Malden for Best Supporting Actor and Hunter for Best Supporting Actress), the first time a film won three out of four acting awards (Brando was nominated for Best Actor but lost). Previous. A Streetcar Named Desire Historical and Social Context - eNotes Ed. It is often included in paper editions of A Streetcar Named Desire. Tennessee Williams and A Streetcar Named Desire Background, Read about another tragic drama, Arthur Millers. In the first scene the confrontation is not so severe, but it increases in severity until one of the two must be destroyed. The music score by composed by Marvin Hamlisch. Stanley has never met his sister-in-law Blanche, the female lead of the play ,Vivien Leigh in the movie remake. Stanley uses casually racist slang: Put it in English, greaseball (Scene Eleven, p. 98). While Blanche flutters in semi-darkness, soaks in the bath, and surrounds herself in silky clothes and costume jewels, Stanley rips off his sweaty shirts under the bare kitchen light bulb. Stanley uses imagery destructively, as in Take a look at yourself in that worn-out Mardi Gras outfit, rented for fifty cents from some rag-picker! (Scene Ten, p. 94). Mitch, present at the poker game, breaks down in tears. Stanley goes along with the act before angrily scorning Blanche's lies, hypocrisy and behavior, and calling out her lie about Mitch. It tells the story of Blanche DuBois, her sister, Stella, and Stella's husband, Stanley. Here's where you'll find analysis of the literary devices in A Streetcar Named Desire, from the major themes to motifs, symbols, and more. Based on the 1947 play by Tennessee Williams, it follows a 1951 adaptation starring Marlon Brando and a 1984 television adaptation.The film was adapted from a 1992 Broadway revival of . In 1995, an opera was adapted and composed by Andr Previn with a libretto by Philip Littell. See a complete list of the characters inA Streetcar Named Desireand in-depth analyses of Blanche DuBois, Stanley Kowalski, Stella Kowalski, and Harold Mitch Mitchell. Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan! Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools. A Streetcar Named Desire is actually realism of several different varieties. Blanche Duboisarrives at the French Quarter of New Orleans to stay with her sister, Stella Kowalski. A Streetcar Named Desire is actually realism of several different varieties. Dont have an account? The doctor speaks respectfully to Blanche, saying How do you do? and Miss DuBois, which helps to win her trust (Scene Eleven, pp. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. The London production, directed by Laurence Olivier, opened at the Aldwych Theatre on October 12, 1949. [22], In 2018, it headlined the third annual Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis at the Grandel Theatre. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. This production was directed by Glenn Jordan. A Streetcar Named Desire Characters - ThoughtCo Refine any search. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Ned Flanders and Marge Simpson took the leading roles as Stanley and Blanche, respectively. Composer Alex North received an Academy Award nomination for this, his first film score. A Streetcar Named Desire - CliffsNotes Stanley appears and calls for Stella, his wife, to catch a package of meat. Youre putting me through hell-a!, Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs A Streetcar Named Desire is a play by Tennessee Williams. [3] It opened at the Shubert in New Haven in early November 1947, then played the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia before moving to the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on December 3, 1947. Stella, rushing to defend Blanche, is horrified, and she is equally horrified when Stanley tells her that he has also told these stories to Mitch. for a customized plan. It shares a very similar plot and characters, although it has been suitably updated for modern film audiences. Many critics see Brandos dangerous yet seductive portrayal of Stanley as leading the way for the youth movement and the rock-and-roll culture of the 1950s and 1960s. Mitch does not show up for Blanches birthday dinner. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. Drop the bottle top! Hollywood icons Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh are given close, tight photography in their lengthy scenes of escalating conflict, played with such deep insight and such technical brilliance that the audience is given pause, from moment to moment. The play could be said to be in the genre of Southern Gothic, focusing on death, violence, madness and decay. Blanche is not taking a leave from her school due to her nerves: she has been fired for having an affair with a seventeen-year-old student. Later, Stanley lets drop a few hints that he knows some repugnant details about Blanches past, and Blanche is nervous, but the tension does not crack just yet. View all Subscribe now. Sophia Brown starred as Blanche, with Nick Narcisi as Stanley, Lana Dvorak as Stella, and Spencer Sickmann as Mitch. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. (including. The way the content is organized, A concise biography of Tennessee Williams plus historical and literary context for, In-depth summary and analysis of every scene of, Explanations, analysis, and visualizations of. The three minutes of newly-added footage sticks out from the rest of the film because Warner Brothers did not bother to restore these extra film elements along with the rest of the movie, leaving them very scratchy due to deterioration. About A Streetcar Named Desire - CliffsNotes However, some of the film's dialogue is taken from the 1951 film version, not the original stage version. Sure, the "supernatural" elements of the play turn out to be only in Blanche's imagination, but thats the case in many horror movies. 237-246. "A Streetcar Named Success" is an essay by Tennessee Williams about art and the artist's role in society. At age twenty-four, Williams suffered a nervous breakdown, left his job, and returned to college, studying at Washington University in St. Louis but finally graduating from the University of Iowa in 1938. Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more! TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. The Sydney Theatre Company production of A Streetcar Named Desire premiered on September 5 and ran until October 17, 2009. Blanche tells Stella that Belle Reve, the family plantation, has been lost, and that she has been given a leave of absence from her teaching position due to her nerves. This production, directed by Liv Ullmann, starred Cate Blanchett as Blanche, Joel Edgerton as Stanley, Robin McLeavy as Stella and Tim Richards as Mitch.[14]. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Stanley presents Blanche with the bus ticket. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. Thats where I brought my victims (Scene Nine, p. 87). Adapted by Tennessee Williams from his Broadway play, the sexually charged saga centres on the marriage of Stella Kowalski (played by Kim Hunter) and Stanley (played by Brando), her brutish husband. The scene in which Blanche and Stanley first meet was edited a bit to take out some of the sexual tension that both had towards each other when the film was first released in 1951. This production, directed by Liv Ullmann, starred Cate Blanchett as Blanche, Joel Edgerton as Stanley, Robin McLeavy as Stella and Tim Richards as Mitch. She is shocked by the disreputable looks of the place. Sparklet Scene Summaries Summary & Analysis Scene One Scene Two Scene Three Scene Four The original 1947 Broadway production of Streetcar shot Marlon Brando, who played Stanley Kowalski, to stardom. After the loss of her family home to creditors, Blanche DuBois travels from Laurel, Mississippi, to the New Orleans French Quarter to live with her younger married sister, Stella, and Stella's husband, Stanley Kowalski. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. Suddenly becoming upset over multiple interruptions, Stanley explodes in a drunken rage and strikes Stella. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% The play is a tragedy because its protagonist suffers an unfortunate fate and is fundamentally destroyed and lost at the play's end.