Theatre lovers in Cape Town are in for an exceptional experience this February, when multi-award-winning actress and doyenne of the South African stage, Fiona Ramsay takes on the iconic part of Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize winning play A Streetcar Named Desire at the Artscape Theatre from 2 – 12 February 2022.
Miss Ramsay is no stranger to the Williams oeuvre having recently picked up a Fleur-du-Cap nomination for her sensational portrayal of Princess Kosmonopolis in Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth [2018] and winning the 2020 Best Actress award for her interpretation of Amanda Wingfield in Williams’ The Glass Menagerie. She now adds Williams’ greatest female character, Blanche DuBois to this distinguished list.
A Streetcar Named Desire opened on Broadway in 1947 and became an instant classic. Streetcar is regarded as one of the most influential plays of the 20th century. The 1951 film version, starring Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando, picked up 12 Academy Award nominations, became a classic in its own right, and firmly established the play’s iconic status in the public consciousness.
For the past decade, Abrahamse and Meyer Productions have annually presented a series of award-winning productions of Tennessee Williams plays in the Mother City and the United States, starting with Kingdom of Earth in 2012, continuing with The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore [2013], One Arm [2014], The Day on Which A Man Dies [2015], The Hotel Plays [2016], Two by Tenn [2017], Sweet Bird of Youth [2018], In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel, The Night of the Iguana and The Glass Menagerie in 2019 and concluding with Tennessee Williams: The Blue Piano/The Blue Guitar [2021] as their most recent offering. These productions collectively won four of the fourteen Fleur du Cap Awards for which they were nominated.
In celebration of their ten-year exploration of Tennessee Williams’ work and in honour of his greatest play’s 75th anniversary, Abrahamse & Meyer have selected A Streetcar Named Desire as the centrepiece of their 2021/22 Summer season. Following the run at Artscape this production is set to tour to the USA.
Streetcar traces the descent into madness of Blanche DuBois, a genteel Southern Belle from Mississippi, who has fallen on hard-times and ends up, destitute, in New Orleans, living with her sister, Stella, and her brutish brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski.
Joining Miss Ramsay in the cast are Marcel Meyer [as Stanley Kowalski], Melissa Haiden [as Stella] and Matthew Baldwin [as Mitch].
Award-winning Fred Abrahamse directs and designs the set, with Faheem Bardien [Lighting Design], Charl-Johan Lingenfelder [original score] and Marcel Meyer [costume design] making up the remainder of the creative team.
A Streetcar Named Desire forms part of Abrahamse and Meyer’s Summer Season of World Theatre Launched in November last year with a critically acclaimed production of Yukio Mishima’s The Lady Aoi.
A Streetcar Named Desire will play in repertory with Tennessee Williams’ One Arm.
Williams fans can take the opportunity to see both plays on the same evening for a highly discounted price, under the TWO BY TENN: TENNESSEE WILLIAMS FESTIVAL booking offer.
A Streetcar Named Desire runs from 2 – 12 February in the Artscape Theatre. Evening performances start at 19:30 with matinees at 15:00. Duration 130 minutes including interval. Age restriction PG.
Tickets range from R200 – R280. Book via Computicket, Shoprite / Checkers outlets, Computicket online https://tickets.computicket.com/event/a_streetcar_named_desire/1276391 or Artscape
Dial-a-Seat 021 421 7695. Discounts are available for students/scholars, pensioners and block bookings of 10 or more direct from Artscape Box Office and Artscape Dial-Seat 021 421 7695.
BRIEF INFO :
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
By Tennessee Williams
Directed & designed by Fred Abrahamse
Starring Fiona Ramsay, Marcel Meyer, Melissa Haiden, & Matthew Baldwin
Lighting Design: Faheem Bardien
Original Score: Charl-Johan Lingenfelder
Costume Design: Marcel Meyer
Artscape Theatre, Cape Town: 2 – 12 February 2022
Tickets: R200 – R280.
Booking at Computicket or Artscape Dial-a-Seat 021 421 7695