Sigrid Thornton will take on the iconic role of Blanche DuBois in Tennessee William’s ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ for Black Swan State Theatre Company in 2014.

The Pulitzer prize winning play is one of six productions the company will stage next year alongside two additional productions as part of it’s new Black Swan Lab program that will support emerging artists.

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Thornton was a surprise guest at Monday night’s launch of the program to subscribers and supporters. The award winning Australian actress spoke of her excitement in tackling the role.

Blanche DuBois has previously been played by many great actresses including Jessica Tandy who first played the role on Broadway in 1948, Vivienne Leigh who starred in the West End premiere and recreated the part in the 1951 film version. Recent revivals have seen actresses including Jessica Lange, Natasha Richardson, Blythe Danner and Cate Blanchett take on the role.

Joining Thornton for the Black Swan production will be a cast of Perth’s best actors including Benj D’Addario, Nathaniel Dean, Luke Hewitt, Michael Loney, Rhoda Lopez, William McNeill, Steve Turner and Alison van Reeken. The production opens on March 15th 2014.

Also in the new season line up is  Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’ which Helpman award winning Director Roger Hodgman will helm. a new play ‘Dust’ commissioned by the company in conjunction with ‘Rio Tinto’ will have it’s world premiere in June while actress Greta Scacchi will make a welcome return to Perth to take on the lead role in Anton Chekhov’s ‘The Seagull’ in August.

Peter Rowsthorn will star in Neil Simon’s ‘Laughter on the 23rd Floor’ in September while Ben Elton will present ‘Gasp’ an updated version of his 1990 playing ‘Gasping’ which will see the story updated and relocated to the backdrop of Australia’s current mining boom.

Under their Black Swan Lab banner the company will also produce two new works from emerging artists. Chris Issacs, one of the creative team behind the hit production ‘It’s Dark Outside’ has penned a new work called ‘Flood’ which follows six Perth friends, young, privileged and bullet proof on a trip to the mid-west where there decisions have lethal consequences. The second show is ‘The House on the Lake’ written by Aidan Fennessy it’s a psychological thriller about a Dr who has 15 minutes to scramble and put together a mystery because every 15 minutes he forgets what he previously knew.

For details of all the shows head to the company’s website.