Director Fred Abrahamse with Fiona Ramsay who takes on the role of Blanche DuBois and Marcel Meyer who plays Stanley Kowalski. PICTURE: Fiona MacPherson
Multi-award-winning actress and doyenne of the South African stage, Fiona Ramsay will take on the iconic part of Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize winning play A Streetcar Named Desire at the Artscape Theatre from Wednesday February 2 to Saturday February 12.
Ramsay is no stranger to the Williams oeuvre having picked up a Fleur-du-Cap nomination for her portrayal of Princess Kosmonopolis in Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth in 2018 and winning the 2020 Best Actress award for her interpretation of Amanda Wingfield in Williams’ The Glass Menagerie.
A Streetcar Named Desire opened on Broadway in 1947 and became an instant classic. The 1951 film version, starring Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando, picked up 12 Academy Award nominations.
For the past decade, Abrahamse and Meyer Productions have annually presented a series of award-winning productions of Tennessee Williams plays in Cape Town and the United States, starting with Kingdom of Earth in 2012.
In celebration of their 10-year exploration of Tennessee Williams’ work and in honour of his greatest play’s 75th anniversary, Fred Abrahamse and Marcel 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.
The play 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 Ramsay in the cast are Marcel Meyer (Stanley Kowalski), Melissa Haiden (Stella) and Matthew Baldwin (Mitch).
Tickets range from R200 to R280.
Abrahamse and Meyer’s stage adaptation of Williams’ short-story, One Arm returns to the Artscape Arena to play in repertory with A Streetcar Named Desire prior to both productions touring the USA.
One Arm can be seen from Wednesday February 9 to Saturday February 19. Tickets cost R125. Williams fans can take the opportunity to see both plays on the same evening for a discounted price.
Book through Computicket or Artscape Dial-a-Seat on 021 421 7695.
Discounts are available for students, pensioners and block bookings of 10 or more.