Scottish Ballet to Launch US Tour at The Harris Theater

The Harris Theater welcomes the Scottish Ballet as they perform for the first time in Chicago bringing their award-winning, high-profile production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Based on the 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning American play by Tennessee Williams, Scottish Ballet's 2012 contemporary adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire, created in conjunction with the play's 65th anniversary year, is considered a treasure of contemporary dance. This modern gem makes its Chicago debut on Thursday, May 7th at 7:30PM, with additional performances on Friday, May 8th at 7:30PM, and the final performance on Saturday May 9th at 7:30 PM. This presentation is made possible by The Harris Family Foundation, Caryn and King Harris Dance Residency Fund through Imagine: The Campaign for Harris Theater.

The sultry performance is covered in two jaw-dropping acts that hold true to the spirit of the original play. The year is 1935, and the lifestyle of the landed gentry is in a steep decline. The impressionable and distraught Blanche DuBois leaves her family's decaying Southern mansion, after dealing with the death and betrayal of her husband, and heads to New Orleans to escape her life. With the scene shift comes a heavily addicted Blanche with her sister, Stella, and Stella's temperamental husband, Stanley Kowalski, in the sizzling heat of desperation. Blanche and Stanley quickly find themselves in constant turmoil in this suspenseful take on greed, passion, and treachery as only dance can inspire.

Created in collaboration with international dance star and award-winning choreographer, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, alongside theater and film director, Nancy Meckler, this critically acclaimed story will delight in its cross-disciplinary style and one-of-a-kind take on an American classic. Since its debut in 2012, the ballet has captivated audiences in the US and UK, receiving superlative reviews as well as Critics' Circle (Best Dance Production) and South Bank (Best Classical Choreography) awards.

In adapting such an iconic play into movement, preserving the plot and characters is crucial. The story's vignettes are woven together through the use of music composed by Peter Salem, sets designed by Niki Turner that convey the claustrophobic quality of the Kowalski's apartment, and costumes, also by Turner, that bring 1930s New Orleans to life.

Tickets for A Streetcar Named Desire are $10-$95, now available at HarrisTheaterChicago.org or by calling the Harris Theater Box Office at 312.334.7777.