 Leigh next sought the role of Blanche DuBois in the West End stage production of Tennessee Williams 's A Streetcar Named Desire and was cast after Williams and the play 's producer Irene Mayer Selznick saw her in The School for Scandal and Antigone ; Olivier was contracted to direct . Containing a rape scene and references to promiscuity and homosexuality , the play was destined to be controversial , and the media discussion about its suitability added to Leigh 's anxiety . Nevertheless , she believed strongly in the importance of the work . 
