The Young Vic's A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Starring Gillian Anderson and Ben Foster, Begins Tonight

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE opens at the Young Vic on Monday, July 28, with previews from tonight, July 23 and is booking to Friday, September 19, 2014. Gillian Anderson is Blanche DuBois, Ben Foster is Stanley and Vanessa Kirby is Stella in Tennessee Williams' timeless masterpiece.

As Blanche's fragile world crumbles, she turns to her sister Stella for solace - but her downward spiral brings her face to face with the brutal, unforgiving Stanley Kowalski. Visionary director Benedict Andrews returns to the Young Vic following his Critics' Circle Award-winning Three Sisters.

Also in the cast are Clare Burt, Lachele Carl, Branwell Donaghey, Otto Farrant, Nicholas Gecks, Troy Glasgow, Stephanie Jacob, Corey Johnson and Claire Prempeh. The production features design by Magda Willi, costume by Victoria Behr, sound by Paul Arditti, music by Alex Baranowski and light by Jon Clark.

Gillian Anderson (Blanche DuBois) began her career in theatre but achieved international recognition for her portrayal of Special Agent Dana Scully on The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons she won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and two SAG Awards. A Streetcar Named Desire at the Young Vic is Gillian's fourth appearance on the London stage. In 2009 she received an Olivier nomination for her performance as Nora in A Doll's House at the Donmar Warehouse. Prior to this she appeared inThe Sweetest Swing In Baseball at the Royal Court, and made her West End debut in Michael Weller's What The Night Is Forin 2002. Her screen On screen her credits include Great Expectations, Bleak House (for which she received a BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe nomination), Any Human Heart (also BAFTA nominated), and most recently she played DSI Stella Gibson in BBC 2's psychological thriller, The Fall. On the big screen, her numerous credits include The Mighty, Playing By Heart, The House of Mirth (for which she won a British Independent Film Award), The Last King of Scotland, A c*ckand Bull Story, Boogie Woogie and Shadow Dancer.

Ben Foster (Stanley Kowalski). A Streetcar Named Desire is his first role on the London stage. He made his Broadway debut last year in a revival of Lyle Kessler's play Orphans, opposite Alec Baldwin and Tom Sturridge. Ben's extensive film credits include the lead role of Lance Armstrong in Stephen Frears' film on the infamous cyclist, due to be released in UK cinemas later this year. He made his film debut playing the lead in Barry Levinson's film Liberty Heights. On the small screen, he played Russell Corwin in HBO's Six Feet Under. Film audiences will have seen him most recently in Pete Berg's hit Lone Survivor, John Krokidas' Kill Your Darlings and David Lowery's critically acclaimed debut Ain't Them Bodies Saints. Other notable film credits include The Messenger, 360, Alpha Dog, Here, Contraband, X-Men: The Last Stand and 3:10 To Yuma. Ben has just finished filming Warcraft for director Duncan Jones.

Vanessa Kirby (Stella Kowalski) appeared in Benedict Andrews' acclaimed Three Sisters at the Young Vic in 2012. Her past roles in theatre include Edward II and Women Beware Women (National Theatre), As You Like It (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and The Acid Test at the Royal Court, for which she received an Evening Standard Award nomination for Outstanding Newcomer in 2011. Vanessa was nominated in two consecutive years for the prestigious Ian Charleson Award. She played Estella in the BBC adaptation of Great Expectations, which also starred Gillian Anderson, Ray Winstone and Douglas Booth. She played Ruth Elms in the popular BBC2 series The Hour and starred in Channel 4's Labyrinth opposite John Hurt. Past films include The Rise and Richard Curtis' About Time. She has just finished filming Everest for director Baltasar Kormákur, and later this year cinema-goers can see her in Kill Command, John Boorman's Queen and Country with Brendan Gleeson, and the Wachowskis' Jupiter Ascending.

Benedict Andrews (Director) received a Critics' Circle Best Director Award for his production of Three Sisters at the Young Vic in 2012. His past work in the UK also includes The Return of Ulysses (Young Vic/ENO), Gross und Klein starring Cate Blanchett (Barbican), Caligula (ENO) and The Eternity Man (Almeida Opera). As former resident director of Sydney Theatre Company (2001-2003), his productions there included Jean Genet's The Maids, Martin Crimp's Attempts on Her Life, the multi-award-winning The Season at Sarsaparilla, and a spectacular eight-hour staging of The War of the Roses. In Berlin he has directed A Streetcar Named Desire in 2009, Blackbird and Cleansed at the Schaubühne.