Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire

by Philip C. Kolin

• ISBN13: 9780521626101
• ISBN10: 0521626102
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-05-01
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

One of the most important plays of the twentieth century, A Streetcar Named Desire revolutionised the modern stage. This book offers the first continuous history of the play in production from 1947 to 1998 with an emphasis on the collaborative achievement of Tennessee Williams, Elia Kazan, and Jo Mielziner in the Broadway premiere. From there chapters survey major national premieres by the world's leading directors including those by Seki Sano (Mexico), Luchino Visconti (Italy), Ingmar Bergman (Sweden), Jean Cocteau (France ) and Laurence Olivier (England). Philip Kolin also evaluates key English-language revivals and assesses how the script evolved and adapted to cultural changes. Interpretations by Black and gay theatre companies also receive analyses and transformations into other media, such as ballet, film, television, and opera (premiered in 1998) form an important part of the overall study.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	x
General preface	xiii
Preface	xv
Acknowledgments	xviii
A Streetcar Named Desire -- the Broadway premiere and beyond	1	(39)
Streetcar on the world stage: the national premieres, 1948--1953	40	(43)
Streetcar revivals on the English-language stage	83	(37)
Recasting the players: expanding and radicalizing the streetcar script	120	(29)
Streetcar in other media	149	(26)
Select production chronology	175	(9)
Notes	184	(25)
Select bibliography	209	(6)
Index	215