Texas State's A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE Begins Tonight

Texas State University's Department of Theatre and Dance is presenting A Streetcar Named Desire, running tonight, February 17-22, 2015.

In A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, Blanche DeBois and Stanley Kowalski, two of the most iconic characters in the history of American drama, opposites in every way imaginable, face off in an emotional and psychological battle of wills for their mutual survival. It is 1947 and Blanche, a daughter of the genteel, aristocratic south of the past, has lost everything and in desperation must turn to her sister and her sisters' new husband for refuge. But the low-rent apartment in the raucous, seedy side of New Orleans, the domicile of her sisters' sensuous, brutish husband, is anything but welcoming or safe. Both poetic and earthy, A Streetcar Named Desire is one of the great plays of the American theatre.

The opening night for A Streetcar Named Desire will be Tuesday, Feb. 17, and runs through Sunday, Feb. 22. All performances will be in the new Patti Strickel Harrison Theatre, located at 405 Moon Street, San Marcos, TX. Individual tickets start at $15 for adults and $8 for students, and may be purchased by phone at 512-245-6500 or online at txstatepresents.com.

SPECIAL EVENTS:

Opening Night: Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Fundraising Dinner & Show: Saturday, Feb. 21 at 5:30 p.m., includes a pre-show dinner in the lobby of the Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $150 with a limited number of seats available, and $100 from this event is considered a tax-deductible donation. Open to the public.

Talkback with Shirley Knight: Friday, Feb. 20 immediately following the 7:30 p.m. performance. Knight was nominated for a Best Supporting Oscar for Tennessee Williams's Sweet Bird of Youth playing opposite Paul Newman, and she has played the role of Blanche DuBois twice in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Last Call: Sunday, Feb. 22 at 2:00 p.m.

Shirley Knight's career spans over five decades in theater, film and television. She has been nominated for and won numerous awards for her work including two Academy Award nominations, one for her performance in "Sweet Bird of Youth" by Tennessee Williams starring opposite Paul Newman and also for "The Dark at the Top Of The Stairs".

She has received ten Emmy nominations and won three, has been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and won two, received two Tony Award nominations, winning for Best Actress for her performance in Robert Patrick's "Kennedy's Children". She received two Drama Desk nominations, and won the Venice Film Festival Best Actress award and Cannes Film Festival Critics Prize for her legendary performance in Amiri Baraka's "The Dutchman" starring opposite Al Freedman Jr.

Some of her film performances include AS GOOD AS IT GETS directed by James Brooks, STUART SAVES HIS FAMILY directed by Harold Ramis, PETULIA directed by Richard Lester, THE GROUP directed by Sidney Lumet, THE RAIN PEOPLE directed by Francis Ford Coppola, ENDLESS LOVE directed by Franco Zefferelli, DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD, more recent films include REDWOOD HIGHWAY, OUR IDIOT BROTHER, PAUL BLART: MALL COP, THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE and GRANDMA'S BOY.

She has performed in hundreds of television shows many of them while under contract at Warner Brothers Studios, a few favorites include her recurring role on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES for which she received an Emmy nomination, HOUSE, LAW AND ORDER for which she received an Emmy nomination, INDICTMENT: THE McMARTIN TRIAL for which she received an Emmy and Golden Globe award, PLAYING FOR TIME with Vanessa Redgrave for which she received an Emmy nomination, and Ingmar Bergman's THE LIE.

A few theater highlights include THE YOUNG MAN FROM ATLANTA by Horton Foote directed by Robert Falls for which she received her second Tony and Drama Desk nominations, THE THREE SISTERS-directed by Lee Strasberg, THE LANDSCAPE OF THE BODY by John Guarre for which she received a Drama Desk nomination and a Jefferson Award, NECESSARY TARGETS by Eve Ensler , THE MARRIAGE PLAY by Edward Albee, and A LOVELY SUNDAY FOR CREVE COEUR, which was written for her by Tennessee Williams, THE GLASS MENAGERIE directed by Emily Mann, and two productions of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. Miss Knight also holds a Doctor of Fine Arts Degree from Lake Forest College.

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