When it made its debut in 1946, “A Streetcar Named Desire” gave writer Tennessee Williams a place in American playwright history. Since then, actors and actresses have sought to bring to life Williams’ themes of cruelty, illusion, desire, loneliness and new worlds replacing the old.

Actor Matthew Brumlow will play the part of Stanley in the Montana Repertory Theatre’s performance of the play this Friday, and he says Williams’ style of writing makes playing the part difficult.

“He is a poet,” Brumlow says. “I fell in love with his capacity with language. It’s challenging as an actor to work with.”

But it’s a challenge that Brumlow says he has longed for as a professional.

“I think [Williams] is probably the greatest American writer,” Brumlow says. “Stanley is one of the mountaintop roles, one of those roles that you have always wanted to play. It’s fun to sink your teeth into as an actor.”

“Streetcar” takes place in the Deep South and follows the life of Blanche DuBois, a coquettish woman with a dark past. As the play begins, she is taking refuge by moving in with her sister Stella and her husband Stanley. Blanche is distraught with the conditions they live in and has a deep dislike for Stanley. The play escalates with the rocky interaction of these three characters.

A Georgia native, Brumlow says Williams’ depiction of Southern life is very accurate, and that “Streetcar” deals with many aspects of Southern culture, namely the death of the “Old South.”

“He has his finger on the pulse of the South and gives a taste of Southern life,” Brumlow says. “Southerners can be like Blanche — set in their ways. They have a capacity to be stubborn and have a command for language, taking things as they go. Stanley represents the new industrial age of the South.”

Brumlow says he and Stanley share some characteristics.

“I think Stanley is a highly motivated individual, and competitive — and I’m competitive. He’s also passionate and expressive, and I’m those traits as well,” Brumlow says.

But there are also many traits Brumlow doesn’t share with Stanley, which he says can make playing Stanley difficult.

“I think the toughest thing about playing Stanley is where he asks me to go,” Brumlow says. “I know the ladies playing Blanche and Stella pretty well now, and it’s hard to be rough and coarse. I think that Stanley is a lot like Tony Soprano, because there is a code that they live by, but they constantly break that code.”

One of the things that make Tennessee Williams’ “Streetcar” unique is the character development. Brumlow says Williams doesn’t romanticize the working class in the South. Instead, he uses highly developed characters to portray them as complex beings.

“[Williams] has a great understanding of human nature. All of his characters are fully realized. There are no two-dimensional characters,” Brumlow says.

This is one of the reasons, Brumlow says, the show is a favorite for audiences.

“We all realize that we have a little of Blanche and Stanley in us,” Brumlow says. “Williams is struggling to preserve that creative, poetic side that we all have in us. It needs to be experienced live.”

The Montana Repertory Theatre was established as a professional touring company in 1968, and exists with the credo of bringing professional theater to the masses at an affordable cost. The directors, designers and players who make up the company have experience on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in major regional theater companies.

“Streetcar” has been touring since January, and Brumlow says playing Stanley will never get monotonous.

“By the time we are done, we will have performed the show between 60 and 65 times,” Brumlow says. “But you realize how good the show is each time, and keep having these epiphanies.”

The audience is also an essential key to keeping the show alive, Brumlow says.

“The audience is the final ingredient in live theater. No play is complete until you perform it in front of an audience. That’s how I keep it fresh — I just listen.” Brumlow says. “The audiences can be really different, and that brings a new level of excitement.”

What: “A Streetcar Named Desire”

Where: Stephens Auditorium

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday

Cost: $14.50students,$27.50 adults

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