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A Streetcar Named Desire (Dramatized)  By  cover art

A Streetcar Named Desire (Dramatized)

By: Tennessee Williams
Narrated by: Rosemary Harris,James Farentino
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Publisher's summary

Caedmon is proud to release this archival full-cast recording of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire.

Blanche DuBois arrives at her sister Stella's New Orleans apartment seeking refuge from a troubled past but her ethereal spirit irks Stella's husband, the loutish Stanley Kowalski. Crudely, relentlessly, he unmasks the lies and delusions that sustain Blanche, until her frail hold on reality is shockingly severed.

This atmospheric recording of Tennessee Williams's powerful classic stars Rosemary Harris and James Farentino as Blanche and Stanley roles they performed to acclaim in a smash revival at New York's Lincoln Center.

©1975 The University of the South (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about A Streetcar Named Desire (Dramatized)

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    335
  • 4 Stars
    146
  • 3 Stars
    79
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
    122
  • 3 Stars
    55
  • 2 Stars
    17
  • 1 Stars
    25
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    302
  • 4 Stars
    103
  • 3 Stars
    71
  • 2 Stars
    15
  • 1 Stars
    25

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Lots of background noise

The background noise is very distracting and overpowers a lot of the speaking which makes it difficult to focus on the storyline vs what's happening in the background

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great play, questionable acting

While I very much enjoy the works of Tennessee Williams, this reading was altogether too melodramatic for my tastes, in terms of the performance choices. If you can see past the acting and listen more to the words, then it's a worthwhile listen.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

What disappointed you about A Streetcar Named Desire (Dramatized)?

I absolutely adore Streetcar Named Desire, and I LOVE Tennessee Williams, but I found this dramatization way, way, WAY over the top! I understand that Blanche Dubois is a frail, hysterical woman, but the actress' wailing really just made me cringe. I will be requesting my credit back.
The actor who narrated Stanley Kowalski was very good, however.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Rosemary Harris and James Farentino ?

Unsure.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Only the fact that it is a Streetcar Named Desire.

Any additional comments?

I found myself cringing during most of the audiobook because of the actress' hysterical, wailing.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Terrible Quality

What would have made A Streetcar Named Desire (Dramatized) better?

Better quality. You can hardly hear the characters speaking, the background noises drown everything out.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Great performance of an excellent play. A lot of heavy themes including empowerment (or lack thereof) of women, the need for illusions under duress, the consequences of insensitivity and lack of patience on a vulnerable person, and on and on...Highly recommended.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Not What I Expected

I really just wanted to have the transcript of the play read aloud. Very disappointed.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Delivery? Conversion?

I'd never read the play before, but I felt like, as an English major, I should know the story. In my opinion, Blanch was a bit overdramatic, but that could have been intentional. My main difficulty was with how stage was converted to audio. There's one scene where Mitch enters without a word and Blanch tries coming off as proper. Until I looked up a summary of the play, however, I thought Blanch was having some kind of hallucination. This production was all character dialogue, which made following the story confusing at times. A narrator reading stage directions would have been helpful.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very much enjoyed this performance

My first listen to this play and I was worried about the quality based on reviews that complained about the recording or performance by some of the actors. In my opinion all criticisms without foundation. This is a very good performance with great audio quality. During the scenes that depict a raucous crowd one cannot understand every word but I think that is part of the point.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing Performance!!

The actors are ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!! And the special effects, ambiance, & background noises had me hooked from start to finish!! I only wish there was a visual transcript because I was trying to follow along in my play script and there were lots of adlibs and improvisation so it was hard to follow along.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

POWERFUL

Very Powerful. Very dynamic and well done.
On the Distressful side. Recommended if you want to experience this play! Thanks

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