Full Casting Announced for 'A Streetcar Named Desire', Starring Cate Blanchett

The debut of the Sydney Theatre Company's production of Tennesse Williams' 'A Streetcar Named Desire', starring Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett as Blanche DuBois, has announced its full cast and creative team.

Director, actor and author, Liv Ullmann helms the production. Her name is synonymous with European cinema and theater. She played a number of major roles as a permanent member of the Norwegian Theatre in Oslo as well as in productions in Sweden, Australia, London's West End and on Broadway. In film she is particularly well known for her collaborations with Ingmar Bergman and has been honored with numerous awards and nominations. As director, Ullmann's work includes 'Sofie' and 'Kristin Lauransdotter', both of which she also scripted, as well as 'Faithless', 'Private Confessions' and Paul Claudel's 'Break of Noon'.

 

'A Streetcar Named Desire' will also star Joel Edgerton as Stanley and Robin McLeavy as Stella. The Australian company will also features Michael Denkha, Elaine Hudson, Gertraud Ingeborg, Morgan David Jones, Russell Kiefel, Jason Klarwein, Mandy McElhinney, Tim Richards, Sara Zwangobani and musician Alan John.

'A Streetcar Named Desire' is the story of the determined, yet fragile, repressed and delicate Blanche DuBois, set in the New Orleans apartment of her sister, Stella, and animalistic brother-in-law, Stanley. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play opened on Broadway in New York in 1947 and guaranteed Williams' status as one of the major American Playwrights.

The production features set design by Ralph Myers, costume design by Tess Schofield, lighting design by Nick Schlieper and sound design by Paul Charlier.

Australian actress and director Cate Blanchett came to international attention in the 1998 film 'Elizabeth', directed by Shekhar Kapur, in which she played Elizabeth I of England. She is also well known for her roles in 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy, 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' and for her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's 'The Aviator', a role which won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Along with her husband Andrew Upton, Cate Blanchett has been Co-Artistic Director of Sydney Theatre Company since January 2008. For the Company, she has previously performed in 'The War of the Roses', 'Hedda Gabler', 'Sweet Phoebe', 'Kafka Dances', 'Top Girls' and 'Oleanna', and has directed 'The Year of Magical Thinking', 'Blackbird' and 'A Kind of Alaska'. Other theater credits include productions with the Almeida, London, Company B, and Griffin.

Performances for 'A Streetcar Named Desire' will run Tuesday through Saturday evenings in the Eisenhower Theater at 7:30 PM. Beginning November 1, matinee performances on Saturday and Sunday afternoons will run at 1:30 PM. Tickets from $25 to $90 are on sale beginning August 12, 2009 and will be available for purchase at the Kennedy Center box office, on the Kennedy Center website at www.kennedy-center.org, or by calling Instant Charge at (202) 467-4600. Patrons living outside the Washington metropolitan area may dial toll-free at (800) 444-1324.

For more information, please visit the Kennedy Center website at www.kennedy-center.org

 

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