This content is from Wikipedia. We do not consider this content professional or citable. Please use your discretion when relying on it. GradeSaver also offers a professionally written study guide by one of our staff editors.

Introduction

A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams^[1] for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1947. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947 and closed on December 17, 1949 in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was directed by Elia Kazan and starred Marlon Brando, Jessica Tandy, Kim Hunter, and Karl Malden.^[2] The London production opened in 1949 with Bonar Colleano, Vivien Leigh, and Renee Asherton and was directed by Laurence Oliver.^[3]

In 1951, a film adaptation of the play, directed by Elia Kazan, won several awards, including an Academy Award for Vivien Leigh as Best Actress in the role of Blanche.^[4] Jessica Tandy was the only lead actor from the original Broadway production not to appear the 1951 film.

Further creative adaptations include a 1995 opera with music by André Previn and presented by the San Francisco Opera.

There was an applause that lasted 30 minutes whenthe play ended.