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Artwork for A Streetcar Named Desire
Artwork for A Streetcar Named Desire
Artwork for A Streetcar Named Desire
Artwork for A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire

9 Jul — 17 Aug 2024

Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse

Artistic Director Anne-Louise Sarks takes on Tennessee Williams’s masterpiece, starring Nikki Shiels as Blanche DuBois.

Approx. 2 hours and 30 minutes, plus a 20-minute interval

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This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘Fuelled by powerful performances.’

The Age
This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘A magnetic performance… heart-breaking, heroic and funny.’

Limelight
This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘Shiels creates an exhilarating Blanche for our times.’

Australian Book Review
This is rated 0 out of 5 stars

‘Nikki Shiels is absolutely magnetic in the lead role.’

The Saturday Paper

ABOUT THE SHOW

Nikki Shiels (Sunday, The Picture of Dorian Gray) steps into one of the great roles of the stage: Blanche DuBois. 

The Southern belle grapples with her shattered dreams and inner demons as she seeks refuge in the cramped apartment of her sister Stella (The Newsreader's Michelle Lim Davidson), and her volatile brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski (The Dressmaker's Mark Leonard Winter). Tensions escalate and dark secrets fan the flames of an already incendiary marriage. The delicate balance of power within the household teeters on the brink of collapse, exposing the vulnerability of the human condition.

Experience the raw intensity of Tennessee Williams's classic masterpiece – one of the most critically acclaimed plays of the twentieth century – reimagined by Artistic Director Anne-Louise Sarks. Set against the backdrop of a 1940s New Orleans, yet pulsing with contemporary energy, A Streetcar Named Desire's timeless exploration of aggression, desire and deception is testament to theatre’s enduring power to hold up a mirror and ask us what we see.

 

Accessibility

  • Wheelchair Accessible

  • Hearing Assistance

  • Relaxed Performance

  • Audio Described

  • Tactile Tour

  • Open Captioning

  • Closed Captioning

  • Auslan Interpreted

Performance Type Performance Date(s)
Audio Described
by Vision Australia 		Saturday 27 July at 2pm
Tuesday 30 July at 6.30pm
Tactile Tour
at venue 		Saturday 27 July at 2pm (Tactile tour commences at 1pm)
Open Captioning
via screen 		Saturday 3 August at 2pm
Closed Captioning
via GoTheatrical App 		Saturday 3 August at 2pm
Auslan Interpreted
by Auslan Stage Left 		Tuesday 6 August at 6.30pm
Relaxed Performance Wednesday 14 August at 2pm
Artwork for Gabriella Barbagallo

Gabriella Barbagallo

Gee Gee / Nurse

A Streetcar Named Desire marks Gabriella Barbagallo’s Melbourne Theatre Company debut. Previous theatre credits include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Michael Cassel Group); Akaraka (Empty Seat Theatre); The Book of Mormon (Gordon Frost Organisation); Songs For a New World (Soundworks Productions); Spring Awakening (StageArt) and an onscreen appearance in Superwog (ABC). Gabriella, along with the cast of Songs For A New World, received a Green Room Award nomination for Artist Ensemble, as well as nominations in numerous other categories including Outstanding Independent Music Theatre Production.

Current as of June 2024. 

Artwork for Kaya Byrne

Kaya Byrne

Young Collector / Doctor

Kaya Byrne (he/him) is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and is thrilled to be making his debut with Melbourne Theatre Company. He most recently appeared in Groundhog Day and A Christmas Carol (GWB), along with The Hello Girls (Heartstrings Theatre Co) in his hometown of Canberra. His previous theatre credits include the national tour of Come From Away (Newtheatricals); Chess (Storyboard Entertainment); HOSH: West Side Story (Opera Australia); Lazarus, Ragtime (The Production Company); Ring! Ring!, The House on Fire at the Edge of the World (Fringe Replanted); The Wind in the Willows (Australian Shakespeare Company) and Gilligan's Island: The Musical (Left Bauer Productions). On screen, Kaya appeared in the short films The Tide and My Straight Mate, and the web-series There After. He is also a passionate instrumentalist and songwriter and will be releasing his debut EP Belladonna/Supernova later this year.

Current as of June 2024. 

Michelle Lim Davidson

Michelle Lim Davidson

Stella

Michelle Lim Davidson returns to Melbourne Theatre Company following Torch the Place and An Ideal Husband. Other theatre credits include On The Beach, Banging Denmark, How to Rule the World, Top Girls and Power Plays (Sydney Theatre Company); The Feather in the Web (Griffin Theatre Company); The Laramie Project (STC Education); The Plant and Seminar (Ensemble Theatre); and Far Away (Black Swan Theatre Co). Her television credits include The Newsreader, After the Verdict, Get Krack!n, Top of the Lake: China Girl, Utopia, Doctor Doctor, Live from Planet Earth, Big Ted’s Big Adventure, Black Comedy. Michelle is a regular presenter on Play School. Her film credits include Goldstone. Michelle was nominated for an AACTA for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for The Newsreader S1 and S2, an ARIA nomination for Best Children’s Album for Play School and the 2013 Mike Walsh Fellowship. Michelle received an Equity Award for Utopia in 2016 and in 2022 for The Newsreader, as well as a CGA Rising Star that same year.

Current as of June 2024. 

Artwork for Stephen Lopez

Stephen Lopez

Pablo

Stephen Lopez is a versatile performer who is thrilled to be making his Melbourne Theatre Company debut in A Streetcar Named Desire. Stephen began his training at the Centrestage Performing Arts School in Melbourne, before spending over a decade studying with legendary Hollywood acting teacher Howard Fine at the Howard Fine Acting Studio in both Melbourne and Los Angeles. Previous theatre credits include the title role of Usnavi in the Australian premiere of In The Heights (Stageart & Josh Robson Productions at the Sydney Opera House); Cafe Rebetika (The Follies Company); Mill Boys (Platypus Productions). His film credits include Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Reverse Runner, Tom White. Television credits include Fisk, Utopia, La Brea, Lie With Me, Harrow, Here Come The Habibs, Never Tear Us Apart: the untold story of INXS, Fat Tony & Co., Neighbours, Underbelly Files: Infiltration, Underbelly, Kick, Scooter Secret Agent.

Current as of June 2024. 

Steve Mouzakis

Steve Mouzakis

Mitch

Returning to the Melbourne Theatre Company, Steve has previously been in the productions What If/ If Only, The Lifespan of A Fact, Golden Shield, Death and the Maiden as well as a Green Room Award-winning performance for The Cherry Orchard. Recent film and television credits include the US series Prison Break, Clickbait, Irreverent and the feature film The Stranger, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Additional screen roles include the films Late Night with the Devil, Where The Wild Things Are, I Frankenstein, Darkness Falls, The Suicide Theory, My First Summer, Downriver and Big Mamma's Boy. Known also for his numerous television roles he has featured in The Slap, Killing Time, Fat Tony & Co., Jack Irish, Miss Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, Wentworth, Satisfaction, Stingers, Blue Heelers and The Secret Life Of Us.

Current as of June 2024. 

Artwork for Veronica Peña Negrette

Veronica Peña Negrette

Flower Seller

Veronica Peña Negrette, a Venezuelan-Australian actor based in Naarm/Melbourne, graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) in 2022. Notable roles during her time at VCA include Paulina (The Seagull), Gemma (First Love is the Revolution), and #25 (The Wolves). Outside of VCA, Veronica has performed at the Midsumma Festival and Melbourne Fringe, and presented her original work, I Love Your Process, at the VCA Muse Festival. After graduation, she starred in Lemon Tree on Dregg Street (TheatreWorks) and Climbers (fortyfivedownstairs). Fluent in Spanish and with over a decade of dance training, Veronica's passion lies in exploring diverse narratives in film and theatre.

Current as of June 2024. 

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Nikki Shiels

Blanche

Nikki Shiels is a multi-award winning Australian actress whose career spans screen and stage including leading roles with all of Australia’s major theatre companies. Nikki has previously worked with Melbourne Theatre Company on Sunday, Girls & Boys, Home, I’m Darling, The Cherry Orchard, True Minds, Top Girls, The Importance of being Earnest, and Don Parties On. Other theatre credits include The Picture of Dorian Gray, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Cheery Soul and Three Sisters (Sydney Theatre Company); My Brilliant Career, They Divided The Sky, The Sugar House, The Rover and Twelfth Night (Belvoir); Picnic at Hanging Rock, Night on Bald Mountain, The Dragon, and Elizabeth – Almost by Chance a Woman (Malthouse Theatre); The Last Wife (Ensemble); The Unspoken Word is ‘Joe’ (La Mama/Griffin); The Dream (Bell Shakespeare); Joan (The Rabble); M + M and The Dollhouse (Daniel Schlusser Ensemble); Madeleine (Black Sequin Productions/Arts House). Screen credits include The Last Anniversary, Prosper, Ten Pound Poms, The Newsreader (Season 2), Bloom, House Husbands (Season 4), Childhood’s End, Rush IV and The Eye of the Storm. Nikki’s recent awards include the 2020 Green Room Award for Most Outstanding Performer for her performance as Judy Martin in Home, I’m Darling for Melbourne Theatre Company and in 2023 ‘The Glorias’ Travelling Fellowship for professional actors and directors to pursue their work abroad.

Current as of June 2024. 

Katherine Tonkin

Katherine Tonkin

Eunice

Katherine Tonkin has previously appeared for Melbourne Theatre Company in Cosi, Abigail’s Party, Three Little Words, The Cherry Orchard, Cloud Nine, The Apocalypse Bear Trilogy, Explorations: A Streetcar Named Desire, and the audio adaptation of The Turn of The Screw. Other stage credits include Hour of the Wolf, Tame, OT: Chronicles of the Old Testament, and The Eisteddfod (Malthouse Theatre); The Histrionic and Baal (Malthouse Theatre/Sydney Theatre Company); Cosi (Sydney Theatre Company); Elektra/Orestes, The Wild Duck, and Conversation Piece (Belvoir); Nothing: Chamber Landscapes (Adelaide Festival/Australian Chamber Orchestra); Hercules (Arts House); The Cherry Orchard (co-adaptor) and Xenides (co-writer) (Black Swan State Theatre); I Heart John McEnroe (Uninvited Guests); 3xSisters (The Hayloft Project); Smashed (Griffin Theatre Company); Gilgamesh (Melbourne Festival/Sydney Opera House/Barbican, London). Screen credits include Utopia, Crazy Fun Park, Wentworth, Preacher, Winners and Losers, City Homicide, Neighbours, Snake Tales, Kick, Blue Heelers, and feature films My First Summer, The BBQ and Macbeth. Katherine is a proud member of Actors Equity.

Current as of June 2024. 

Mark Leonard Winter

Mark Leonard Winter

Stanley

For Melbourne Theatre Company Mark appeared in Miss Julie and Birdland. Other theatre credits include Three Sisters, King Lear, Chimerica, Suddenly Last Summer and The Effect (Sydney Theatre Company); The Master & Margarita (Belvoir). Mark co-wrote and appeared in Malthouse Theatre’s Thyestes which was remounted at Belvoir for Sydney Festival and toured internationally. Feature films include Elvis, Escape from Pretoria, Measure for Measure, Disclosure, The Dressmaker, Healing, Balibo and Van Diemen's Land. Most recently, Mark wrote and directed The Rooster which received numerous awards including Best Debut Feature Film from the DGA. His television credits include The Newsreader and Fires (ABC), Pine Gap (Netflix) and Top of the Lake: China Girl (Foxtel, BBC Two). Mark was a founding member of The Black Lung Theatre. He received both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards at the 2016 Helpmann Awards and was a 2017 recipient of the prestigious Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship.

Current as of June 2024. 

Artwork for Gareth Yuen

Gareth Yuen

Steve

Gareth returns to Melbourne Theatre Company having previously appeared in Happy Ending. He has performed and workshopped new writing with the company numerous times with the Cybec Play Reading series. His theatre credits include The Poison of Polygamy (La Boite & Sydney Theatre Company); Photograph 51 (Ensemble Theatre); The Car Plays: San Diego (La Jolla Playhouse); Emerald City (Griffin Theatre Company); Melancholia (Malthouse Theatre); Sabat Jesus (Playbox/Melbourne International Festival); The Wizard Of Oz (Victoria State Opera). His TV credits include Head Start, Round The Twist, Neighbours, Kath & Kim, Underbelly, Ronny Chieng: International Student, Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive and most recently, Doubt, L.A. Confidential (CBS Television, USA); and Hungry Ghosts (SBS, Winner - Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble, Equity Awards). He also appeared in the acclaimed feature film, Jammed. As director, Gareth won best play in the inaugural Collingwood 24-hour Play Festival.

Current as of June 2024. 

Artwork for Anne-Louise Sarks

Anne-Louise Sarks

Director

Anne-Louise Sarks is Artistic Director & Co-CEO of Melbourne Theatre Company, where her directing credits include Escaped Alone and What If If Only and Bernhardt/Hamlet. Previous work with the Company includes Minnie & Liraz and The Seed. An internationally acclaimed director, writer and dramaturg, Anne-Louise’s work has been seen in Melbourne, Sydney, London, Helsinki, Mexico City, New York, Warsaw, Dublin, Auckland, Mumbai, Perth and Basel. Recent productions include Avalanche (Barbican); Our Town, Medea (Theater Basel); Stop Girl (Belvoir). Her production of Blasted at Malthouse Theatre was nominated for four Green Room Awards. Medea, co-written with Kate Mulvany, won five Sydney Theatre Awards including Best Direction. It was also awarded an AWGIE for Best Stage Play. Anne-Louise was previously Artistic Director of the Lyric Ensemble at the Lyric Hammersmith in London and of Melbourne independent theatre company The Hayloft Project. She has been Resident Director at Belvoir, Director in Residence at Malthouse Theatre, and in 2010 she was Emerging Resident Director at Melbourne Theatre Company.

Current as of June 2024. 

Mel Page

Mel Page

Set & Costume Designer

Mel Page is an award-winning set and costume designer working in Australia and internationally. Mel’s set and costume credits for Melbourne Theatre Company includes Minnie & Liraz and The Apocalypse Bear Trilogy. Other credits include costumes for The Cherry Orchard (LG Arts Centre); On The Beach, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Mary Stuart, Les Liasons Dangereuses and Baal (Sydney Theatre Company); Phaedra (National Theatre); Holding The Man (Belvoir); set and costumes for A Raisin In The Sun and Lethal Indifference (Sydney Theatre Company). In opera, her work includes costumes for Innocence and Tristan Und Isolde (Festival d’Aix); The Greek Passion, Lear and Médée (Salzburg Festival); Die Tote Stadt and Die Teufel Von Loudun (Bayerische Staatsoper); Pelleas And Melisande (Den Norske Opera & Ballet); set for Noye’s Fludde (Victorian Opera); set and costumes for Mefistofeles (Teatro dell’Opera di Roma). In 2016, Mel was the proud recipient of the George Fairfax Memorial Award.

Current as of June 2024. 

Niklas Pajanti

Niklas Pajanti

Lighting Designer

Niklas Pajanti is an award-winning lighting designer whose practice ranges across theatre, dance, opera, circus, musical theatre, comedy, events, exhibitions and public spaces. For Melbourne Theatre Company his designs include Berlin, Così, A View from the Bridge, Astroman, A Doll’s House Part 2, Rupert, The Cherry Orchard, The Beast and Queen Lear. Other theatre credits include When the Rain Stops Falling, Spring Awakening, I Want to Dance Better At Parties (Sydney Theatre Company); One Night the Moon, Not Like Beckett (Malthouse Theatre); My Urrwai, Angels in America, Wild Duck, Babyteeth, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Pillowman (Belvoir); Much Ado About Nothing, The School for Wives (Bell Shakespeare); Sunday in the Park with George (Victorian Opera); Lucrezia Borgia (Melbourne Opera); Death of a Salesman (GWB Entertainment); Biographica (Lyric Opera / Theatre Works); In The Club (Theatre Works). Exhibitions include Wonderland, Game Masters, Star Voyager: Exploring Space on Screen (ACMI); Tim Burton the Exhibition (MOMA); Hollywood Costume (V&A Museum). Niklas is the winner of three Green Room Awards.

Current as of June 2024. 

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Stefan Gregory

Music

Stefan returns to Melbourne Theatre Company having previously worked on Minnie & Liraz and The Cherry Orchard. Other theatre credits include The President (Gate Theatre/Sydney Theatre Company); Counting and Cracking, The Master and The Margarita, Stop Girl, The Wild Duck (Belvoir St Theatre); The Importance Of Being Earnest, The Tempest, Julius Caesar, Wannangatta (Sydney Theatre Company); Phaedra (National Theatre); Mother Gilgamesh (Linz Klangwolke); Yerma (The Young Vic/Schaubühne); Medea, Ibsen Huis, Husbands and Wives (International Theater Amsterdam); Medea (Brooklyn Academy of Music); Medea (Burgtheater); Medée (Salzburg Festival); Drei Schwestern, Engel in Amerika (Theater Basel); Avalanche (Barbican); Les Trois Soeurs, La Trilogie de la Vengeance (L’Odeon). His other compositions include Puncture (Sydney Philharmonia Choirs), Symphony (Legs on the Wall); L’Chaim! (Sydney Dance Company); Infinity (The Australian Ballet). Film and TV credits include Otto By Otto (Stan), The Rooster (Bonsai), Cottontail (Magnolia Mae), The Dig (Netflix). Stefan is a Sidney Myer fellow.

Current as of June 2024. 

Artwork for Amy Cater

Amy Cater

Intimacy Coordinator

Amy Cater is part of the first cohort of qualified Intimacy Coordinator practitioners, training and working since 2018 when the profession first arrived in Australia. Previous stage works include Is God Is, Seventeen, Jacky, Cyrano, Sunday, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Fun Home, As You Like It (Melbourne Theatre Company) and &Juliet (Michael Cassel Group). Selected screen credits include Love Me, The Newsreader, The Rooster, Bad Behaviour, The Clearing, Safe Home, Swift St, Sleeping Dogs, Human Error and Exposure. Amy has 20 years’ experience working with sexuality, embodiment, consent and intimacy; specifically within the adult industry, client therapy and education spaces. Amy was a director/senior photographer of ethical erotica for 4 years. She is a qualified psychosomatic therapist, sexological bodyworker and somatic sex educator. Amy has a trained background in theatre, dance and the performing arts. Amy mentors and consults on sexuality and gender best practice. Her work in LGBTQIA+ advocacy and education is a key component of her cultural influence in the Intimacy Coordinator industry.

Current as of June 2024. 

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Geraldine Cook-Dafner

Voice & Dialect Coach

Geraldine Cook-Dafner previously worked for Melbourne Theatre Company on Meet Me at Dawn, Escaped Alone and What If If Only, I Wanna Be Yours, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Sunday, Girls & Boys, The Lifespan of a Fact, Home I’m Darling, The Golden Shield, Wild, The Children, Hay Fever, Di and Viv and Rose, Melbourne Talam, John, The Odd Couple, Straight White Men, The Distance, Birdland, The Waiting Room, Top Girls, The Heretic, The Swimming Club, The 39 Steps, The History Boys, All My Sons, The Clean House, Boy Gets Girl, Take Me Out and The Glass Menagerie. She was the voice and dialect coach for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, &Juliet and The Picture of Dorian Gray (London) and has worked for ABC, SBS and Musica Viva. Geraldine holds a doctorate from the University of Melbourne and is an Honorary Senior Fellow at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Melbourne, where previously she held positions as Head of Voice, Head of School of Performing Arts and Associate Dean.

Current as of June 2024. 

Nigel Poulton

Nigel Poulton

Fight Director

Nigel Poulton is an award-winning movement director, fight and intimacy coordinator, SAG-AFTRA/MEAA stunt performer and actor with over 25 years of professional experience. Nigel’s choreography credits include Finnish National Ballet, The Australian Ballet, New York City Ballet, The Metropolitan Opera, Sydney Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare, Washington Opera Company, Opera Australia, Circus Oz, Melbourne Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre, Belvoir, La Boite and Kooemba Jdarra. Nigel’s film and television work includes Deadlock, Nautilus, Poker Face, Thor: Love and Thunder, Escape from Spiderhead, Ding Dong You’re Gay, Occupation 2, Pirates of the Caribbean V, Deadline Gallipoli, The Water Diviner, The Bourne Legacy, Vikingdom and Winter’s Tale. Nigel is a certified Intimacy Director/Coordinator with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators and has been awarded Fight Master status with the Society of American Fight Directors. Nigel is also a certified Fight Director and past President of the Society of Australian Fight Directors Inc and an Honorary Fight Director with Fight Directors Canada.

Current as of June 2024. 

Artwork for Joe Paradise Lui

Joe Paradise Lui

Assistant Director

Joe Paradise Lui returns to Melbourne Theatre Company after working on composition and sound design for Seventeen, Is God Is and Bernhardt/Hamlet. Joe is a submerging artist and undisputed winner of the 2013 Spirit of the Fringe award. He has won no awards since.

Current as of June 2024. 

Artwork for Bianca Pardo

Bianca Pardo

Assistant Set & Costume Designer

Bianca is a passionate Melbourne/Naarm-based designer and maker. She has worked in set and costume roles on Guys and Dolls, Passing Strange (Antipodes Theatre Company); Jagged Little Pill (GWB Entertainment); Hamilton (Michael Cassel Group); TakeBack! (Multicultural Arts Victoria), Ngarngk: Giver of Life (La Mama/YIRRAMBOI Festival); Fucking A, Mad Forest (VCA); The Gallery Workout (National Gallery of Victoria); School of Rock (Her Majesty’s Theatre) and Kenworth’s Legacy (Moo Motion). Bianca completed internships in Prague for Semafor Theatre and Česká Televize, as well as with Christina Smith on Ragtime (Production Company) and Salome (Victorian Opera). She was awarded the Orloff Family Charitable Trust Scholarship in 2018 and was nominated for two Green Room Awards for her Guys and Dolls design. Throughout 2024, Bianca is thrilled to be participating in the Future Creatives Program at the Melbourne Theatre Company and the Besen Family Artist Program at the Malthouse Theatre.

Current as of June 2024. 

Artwork for Lucy Goleby

Lucy Goleby

Standby Cover

Josh McConville

Josh McConville

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Artwork for James O’Connell

James O’Connell

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Artwork for Ursula Searle

Ursula Searle

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