NEWS RELEASE
MARIPOSA ARTS THEATRE
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Mariposa Arts Theatre is thrilled to bring our April 2025 production of A Streetcar Named Desire to the Orillia Opera House. One of the most critically acclaimed plays of the 20th century, and Tennessee Williams's most popular work, A Streetcar Named Desire was the winner of the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
It still ranks among Williams's most performed plays, and has inspired many adaptations in other forms, notably a critically acclaimed film that was released in 1951.
This show is one that holds a dear place in director Stevie Baker’s heart, describing it as “a foundational play for me that cemented my love of theatre and exploring the human condition and relationships.” After her “transformational experience” directing South Korea’s first English language production of A Streetcar Named Desire back in 2011, Baker is eager to take on this show for a second time.
“I have always loved this show,” she says. “Having this opportunity to revisit Streetcar 14 years later has been very exciting and a very different experience. I have so much more life experience and am in a time of great personal transition, so directing it in 2025 has yielded thrilling, personal and challenging new discoveries and ways to relate to the text. I feel deeply grateful to be revisiting this piece of work at this specific point in my life.”
A Streetcar Named Desire brings to life the stark realities facing women in family and societal structures in the late 1940s. This classic drama dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois (Alyssa LaPlume), a former Southern belle who, after having to leave her grand ancestral home, comes to stay in New Orleans with her younger sister Stella (Veronica van Muyen) and working class brother-in-law Stanley (Stephen Dobby).
An ensemble of eight talented new and returning MAT actors round out the cast, all of whom have been rehearsing since January to bring this show to life.
“It has been such an enlightening experience being on the other side of the table for this show,” says producer Savana Collier, who was last on stage for MAT’s February 2024 production of The Play That Goes Wrong.
“The actors are doing a spectacular job approaching this material with an open heart. I’ve watched them work through some of the difficult material, and Stevie ensures everyone involved is comfortable every step of the way (while) encouraging them to push themselves to bring these characters to life.”
“They are astounding in their willingness to dig deep with me,” Baker says. “It has been a beautiful experience.” After spending hours with the cast exploring the various relationships within the show, discussing the characters' lives before audiences meet them on this particular day in New Orleans, she says, “It has produced some unbelievable, deep, and collaborative character development. I am truly in awe watching them in every scene. Working with this cast has been magical.”
Baker is excited to invite audiences into this world and hopes that they are able to see pieces of themselves in the rich and layered characters.
“I hope they can see the connections of how our pasts, traumas and life experiences inform our present and fuel our actions. I hope they understand how opportunities, and the lack thereof, for women, affect these character’s choices in 1947 and how women are still impacted by domestic violence and crushing societal expectations of femininity and youth."
“I want audiences to ask themselves what has changed and what hasn't, especially at a time when we are watching, so closely, the dismantling of human rights south of our border while witnessing some of those same sentiments seep into our own culture. Why does this story still resonate with us? Why does it feel so familiar? Should it?”
Performances of Mariposa Arts Theatre’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire run April 3 to 13, 2025 at the Orillia Opera House Studio Theatre. Evening shows start at 7:30 p.m. with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased through the Orillia Opera House website or by calling their Box Office at 705-326-8011. Use discount code: GROUP10 online for groups of 10 or more tickets. Recommended for ages 14+.
To learn more, please visit: www.mariposaartstheatre.com/streetcar.
A Streetcar Named Desire is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection.
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