Gillian Anderson, known for her role as agent Scully in the popular 90s television series 'The X-Files', will have her London stage performance of Tennessee Williams' classic play 'A Streetcar Named Desire' showed in movie theaters around the world. In the play, she takes on the role of pained former Southern belle Blanche DuBois, a role known in film for having earned Vivien Leigh her second Academy Award in 1951.
The production, currently on-going in the London stage, features a fairly odd combination: not only is it done in the round, it also has an actually revolving stage. The actress told the Los Angeles Times that the revolving stage made things easier for actors, because they didn't need to look at different sides of the audience when performing; also, it makes for a perfect metaphor of her character's twists and turns into madness.
The new stage experience seems to have done well with audiences and critics, as it has enjoyed success and the production is in talks to tour to American audiences, at least to the Broadway stages of New York City.
The production is directed by Benedict Andrews and stars Anderson as Blanche, Ben Foster as brute Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando in the famous film version, his first movie role and subsequent Oscar nomination) and Vanessa Kirby as Stella Kowalski (Kim Hunter in the film), Stanley's abused wife and Blanche's sister. The play is set in modern-day New Orleans, as opposed to a '40s or '50s version of the town, which is usually the case when the play is being performed.
The distribution of the stage production as a film will be done as part of a series of the Young Vic Theater in London; this will be done thanks to Fathom Events, BY Experience and National Theater Live. It'll be interesting to see how the revolving theater experience translates into film, starting on September 16.
