By Sarah Tobol
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

FORT GREENE — It’s nighttime in New Orleans, and Blanche DuBois and Harold Mitchell have returned to Elysian Fields after a night out on the town. She begins to tell the tragic story of the death of a boy she was married to long ago.

“... Suddenly in the middle of the dance the boy I had married broke away from me and ran out of the casino. A few moments later — a shot.�

Cate Blanchett as Blanche delivers this monologue by candlelight with a faraway look in her eyes. “Never for one moment since has there been any light that’s stronger than this kitchen candle.�

Mitch takes her in his arms to ask, “Could it be you and me, Blanche?� and as Blanchett speaks the scene-ending line, “Sometimes, there’s God, so quickly,� tears appear throughout the audience in BAM’s Harvey Theater.

This was only one of the many powerful moments of the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play, A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Norwegian actress and director Liv Ullmann (Faithless). Throughout her entire performance, Blanchett has the audience in the palm of her hand.

The Oscar-winning actress has drawn such buzz to the show that its entire run — through Dec. 20 — long ago sold out. She is easily the strongest performer, superbly supported by other members of the Sydney Theatre Company. This production came to BAM at the end of November, after a run of just over two months down under.

Blanche opens the play “riding� the streetcar named Desire to her sister Stella’s apartment on Elysian Fields, the street where she lives with her husband, Stanley.

Stella’s life — and husband — are not at all what Blanche had expected, but she remains with them because Stella is pregnant, and also because their childhood home, the plantation house Belle Reve, was lost, so she has no other home to go to. The play follows Blanche’s descent into madness and the events that help her get there.

Blanchett is perfect as Blanche, dressed in her Southern finery, flitting about the stage with frantic energy. She is hilarious as she first appraises her sister’s living quarters, quickly finding the alcohol and downing a shot.

Joel Edgerton (Smokin’ Aces) plays an emotional, subtle Stanley. He is heartbreaking during the play’s best-known scene. After losing his temper with Stella, Edgerton calls to her in the apartment above theirs, collapsing at the foot of the stairs in racking sobs. His raw, exposed emotion also had the audience in tears.

Robin McLeavy plays a sweet and innocent Stella, and Tim Richards as Mitch is simultaneously humorous and heartbreaking.

Also in the cast are Sara Zwangobani as Rosetta, Mandy McElhinney as Eunice Hubbell, Michael Denkha as Steve Hubbell, and Jason Klarwein as Pablo Gonzales.

One can only hope that with this production’s immense popularity and success at BAM, it will move again to a new venue — perhaps Broadway? — before its players head back to Australia.

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