With this production, Zeffirelli made his national debut as a set designer. Until then, he had only designed sets for two one-act plays performed for a few performances in Florence, and for three small operas staged in a tiny theater in Siena as part of the courses of the Accademia Musicale Chigiana.
The first European performance of Tennessee Williams' play, which had caused such a stir in the United States, represented a great opportunity for him. Zeffirelli created a single, very complex set, recreating the entire environment in which the characters moved and bringing it to life in all its details: the labyrinth of streets in New Orleans, the streetcar rattling above the buildings, the wrought-iron railings of the balconies and verandas, and the shabby, crowded Kowalski house, illuminated at different moments of the drama to highlight the subtlest changes.