A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams[1] for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was directed by Elia Kazan and starred Marlon Brando, Jessica Tandy, Kim Hunter, and Karl Malden.[2] The London production opened in 1949 with Bonar Colleano, Vivien Leigh, and Renee Asherson and was directed by Laurence Olivier.

In 1951, a film adaptation of the play, directed by Elia Kazan, won several awards, including four Academy Awards. It starred Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter, and Karl Malden (all but Leigh were chosen from the Broadway cast of the play, while Leigh had starred in the London West End production). Jessica Tandy was the only lead actor from the original Broadway production not to appear the 1951 film. References to Allan Grey's sexual orientation are essentially removed, due to Hays Code restrictions. Instead, the reason for his suicide is changed to a general "weakness".

The real Streetcar named Desire ran from 1920 to 1948, at the height of streetcar use in New Orleans. The route ran down Bourbon, through the Quarter, to Desire Street in the Bywater district, and back up to Canal. Blanche's route in the play ? "They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at ? Elysian Fields!" ? is allegorical, taking advantage of New Orleans colorful street names.