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A Streetcar Named Desire (1975)

Intro

A play by Tennessee Williams, performed at the Nottingham Playhouse (opened 27 November 1975).

Photos

The photo shows cast members in rehearsal: (foreground, from left to right) John Judd, Malcolm Storry, and Arthur Kohn; (background, left to right) Mark McManus, Richard Eyre, and Zoe Wanamaker.

Overview

A Streetcar Named Desire 'is a savage, passionate play set in the heat oppressed New Orleans tenement of Stella and her husband Stanley.  Stella's sister, Blanche DuBois, arrives pretending to be on leave from her school teaching job, but in reality she has been run out of town as a prostitute.  She tried to entice Stanley's friend into marriage but her attempt to find happiness and escape from her past is irrevocably and tragically shattered' (extract from the publicity material for this production).

Cast

Crew

Director: Richard Eyre
Set Designer: Patrick Robertson
Costume Designer: Rosemary Vercoe
Lighting Designer: Geoffrey Mersereau
Stage Manager: Mark Cunningham
Assistant Stage Manager: Heather Lillicrap
Student Assistant Stage Manager: Ewart Richardson
Production Photographer: Gerald Murray

Notes

This production of A Streetcar Named Desire was presented by the Nottingham Playhouse Company.  Zoë was invited to join the company by Richard Eyre, when he became artistic director of its theatre.  They had previously enjoyed working together in Edinburgh (on plays such as The Cherry Orchard).  She speaks warmly of the 'Intelligent, funny, sensitive, encouraging and enthusiastic' director (see 'Zoe Wanamaker: Nottingham Playhouse Made Me' interview). 

The 1975-6 season at Nottingham was a formative period in her career; Zoe has praised the 'fantastic range of plays' in which she was given the opportunity to perform, during her nine months as a member of the company (see 'Zoe Wanamaker: Nottingham Playhouse Made Me' interview).  In addition to A Streetcar Named Desire, she appeared in The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd, The Beggar's Opera, Jug, Pygmalion, The Servant of Two Masters, and Trumpets & Drums.

In 1969, while studying at the Central School of Speech and Drama, Zoe had worked as a student assistant stage manager on another production of A Streetcar Named Desire.  More recently, she has starred in two other plays by Tennessee Williams: The Glass Menagerie (1995) and The Rose Tattoo (2007).

Merchandise

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams