UIS Theatre presents "A Streetcar Named Desire"

The Theatre Program at the University of Illinois Springfield presents A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, opening Friday, April 10. Six performances will be presented in the Studio Theatre, on the lower level of the Public Affairs Center at UIS - on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, April 10, 11, and 12, and Thursday, Friday, Saturday, April 16, 17, and 18. All shows will begin at 7:30 p.m., except the Sunday performance (April 12), which will begin at 2 p.m. UIS Associate Professor and Director of Theatre Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson directs the play.

Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play is an American classic that also won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for best play in 1948, with numerous revivals over the years. Very few plays continue to have such power and impact as Williams’ 1948 drama continues to do so 66 years after the original production, but A Streetcar Named Desire is one such play.

“The play reveals to the very depths the character of Blanche DuBois, a woman whose life has been undermined by her romantic illusions, which lead her to reject—so far as possible—the realities of life with which she is faced and which she consistently ignores. The pressure brought to bear upon her by her sister, with whom she goes to live in New Orleans, intensified by the earthy and extremely ‘normal’ young husband of the latter, leads to a revelation of her tragic self-delusion and, in the end, to madness,” said publisher Samuel French Inc.

UIS Associate Professor of Theatre Missy Thibodeaux-Thompson will play Blanche DuBois in a special sabbatical presentation. UIS student cast members include Diamond Dixon, Bria Grant, Nicholas Jimenez, Christopher Romero, Jonathan San German, Rona Taylor, Ellyn Thorson, and Alessandro Vazquez. Guest artist Tom Miller, community member Linda Castor, and UIS alum Tom Hutchison also make up the cast.

Dathan Powell, UIS assistant professor of theatre, is the scene designer/technical director and lighting designer. Guest artist Katherine Eickhoff is the costume designer and community member Melissa Betty will serve as stage manager. UIS students making up the crew include Anna Ball, Emily Collins, Lindsay Frisk, Janaye Godawa, David Hecht, Junyi Liu, Meghan Milewski, Kevin Montano, Saiteja Pamitimukkala, Harshvardhan Pandey, Wesley Skym, Dinesh Reddy Srirangapalle, Liza Torrence and Alexis Yowsig.

Ticket prices are $14 for adults; $12 for senior citizens (65 or older with a picture I.D.); $10 for UIS Faculty/Staff; $8 for UIS students (and all other college-level students) with a valid, current i-card or college I.D. card; and $6 for 17 and under. Please note that a service charge from Sangamon Auditorium, not included in the prices above, will be added to each ticket price, at the time of purchase. To avoid a higher service charge, buying tickets in person at the Sangamon Auditorium ticket office is highly recommended. You may also purchase tickets over the phone by calling 217/206-6160 or online at www.uis.edu/SangamonAuditorium/.

For more information on the production, visit www.uis.edu/theatre.