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Posted on Tue, Mar 6, 2012 : 5:55 a.m.

P.T.D. Productions offers the chance to catch 'A Streetcar Named Desire'

By AnnArbor.com Staff

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P.T.D. Productions, an Ypsilanti-based community theater troupe, will kick off its 2012 season with Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize winning drama, "A Streetcar Named Desire." Performances are scheduled for March 8-10 and 15-17 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 11 at 2 p.m., at the Riverside Arts Center, 76 N Huron St. in Ypsilanti. An American masterpiece, William's "Streetcar" won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1947, and the film version received 12 Oscar nominations. The play, a frank and unblinking depiction of sexuality and brutality, centers around the conflict between Blanche Dubois and her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski.

The Dubois family fortune has finally been frittered away. Blanche, a Southern belle past her prime and addicted to alcohol, has no way of supporting herself; so, she comes to live with her sister Stella and brother-in-law in the two room Kowalski appartment. Stella Kowalski describes Stanley as "a different species," while Blanche describes him as "downright bestial." He will stop at nothing to get Blanche out of his apartment and out of his marriage.

When first produced in 1947, "Streetcar" was a sensation, catapulting its leading actors (notably, Marlon Brando) to stardom. Of that original performance, Arthur Miller said, "A writer's soul, a single voice was almost miraculously enveloping the stage. … This play made it possible for the stage to express any and all things and to do so beautifully." Directed by Joseph York, with Sarah Burcon, Andy Burt, Mouse Courtois, Rick Katon, Wendy Ascione, Phil Martinez, Erin Baldwin, Zach Damon, Adrienne Frank, and Jim Dowling. Ticket prices are $18 general, $12 for students and seniors. Thursdays are Pay-What-You-Can. Visit www.ptdproductions.com for more information, and to learn about our Stimulus Program with the Four-Show Pass and our Family Discount tickets. Call 734-483-7345 to reserve tickets, or purchase online through www.showtix4u.com. The Riverside Arts Center is located at 76 N. Huron Street, in downtown Ypsilanti, about one mile north of the I-94/Huron Street exit.