A Streetcar Named Desire

“A Streetcar Named Desire,” written by Tennessee Williams, is a renowned classic set in a tiny apartment in a squalid quarter of 1940’s New Orleans.

A prodigious undertaking, the three-act play is a powerfully written account of what happens when earthy, stripped-bare reality, personified by Stanley Kowalski, crashes head on with layers of artifice and fantasy, as portrayed by Stanley’s sister-in-law, Blanche DuBois, in the suffocating furnace of poverty and desperation that is their environment.

The Deep River Players’ production of “A Streetcar Named Desire” was competent and well-polished.

Clearly, many individuals contributed enormous amounts of effort to bring the show to life, a fact which the Friday night audience recognized and celebrated with a standing ovation.

If the script of “Streetcar” can be considered a tinderbox waiting to be lit, this show had kindling aplenty which produced occasional sparks. These sparks, however, never really caught fire.

For a production advertised in the NRT as a “subversive, steamy classic,” this reviewer found the heat lacking, both ambient as well as emotional.

Williams makes several textual references to physical temperature – a vital element to the show since heat is representative of sexual desire, and excessive heat simultaneously frays tempers, shortens fuses, and boils the blood.

In this production, more visible skin, sheens of moisture, and greater physical proximity would have helped create a greater sense of “heat” and tension onstage.

The reality of sweat stains and slick bodies are meant to throw Blanche’s layers of pastel clothes, jewellery, perfume and obfuscation into stark contrast.

The costume department clearly made efforts to dress characters in period costume. The men’s costumes were generally quite successful.

The upstairs neighbours and incidental characters were also suitably dressed, but again, MORE SKIN would have helped create atmosphere and isolated Blanche as apart from the “real” world around her.

Of particular concern were Blanche’s vivid red wrapper and nightgown. These costume pieces detracted from the effect of Stanley’s red satin pyjamas in the rape scene.

Blanche should always have been in fluttering layers of pastel, as referenced in the text, and the only remarkable costume colour should have been those satin pyjamas, denoting power, anger and sexual appetite.

The lighting had a powerful influence in the production, creating an atmosphere of heat through the colours used in the back wash.

Effects such as flickering candlelight and coloured light from the paper lantern were used to good effect.

Thank you to the designer, Peter Angell, and his crew for their great work.

Visual treat

The set was a visual treat in terms of colours and authenticity.

Sacrificing room on the bedroom side to the kitchen side would have given actors more room around the doorway and kitchen table where they tended to get caught and created more forced intimacy in the bedroom scenes.

The curtain used to divide the two rooms was made good use of. Congratulations to Alastair McIvor, Sheila McGregor and Kristen Glowa for their work in creating a successful set.

In terms of levels on stage (physical, vocal, emotional), it was clear that the set designer and director worked well together to create lots of visual variety using high, low, and middle grounds, within which the actors stood, sat, and lay down.

There was an interesting balance between male and female voices, and sudden male outbursts gave vocal variety and emphasis, which caught and held audience attention.

Female vocal levels tended to catch each other and stay in a certain range, a common concern when acting emotionally fraught scenes.

Perhaps there were opportunities for quiet voices and whispering to be explored?

Emotional levels were excellently played by Troy Wilson and Phyllis Heeney, the upstairs neighbours, who deserve special mention for their strong characterizations, bursting energy and for successfully creating an entire world around Stella and Stanley’s apartment. Great casting!

This reviewer enjoyed the music used for the production very much. Occasionally the pairing of melody and storyline clashed (slow, soft and melodic when the scene was stormy, steamy and aggressive).

However, the overall result was to enhance atmosphere and add continuity to the production. Well done to whoever was responsible for the music!

Pacing

Generally, actors did an effective job at maintaining a forward momentum.

Greater variety, such as moments of stillness vs moments of frenetic energy (ie. the energy of the poker party vs the absolute stillness of the apartment when Stanley emerges from the bathroom after everyone has left), would also have served to increase the tension between characters in the storyline and draw the audience further in to the performance.

The stage crew moved methodically and smoothly during the show’s scene changes. They appeared to be a well-rehearsed team.

Again, pacing was of the essence, and in order to avoid drops of energy at critical parts of the action (ie. the entire Act III), scene changes needed to be either fewer or faster.

Stacey Russell and her props crew should be noted for working so effectively with the stage crew and actors.

A huge congratulations to stage manager Tanya Wright for her supreme accomplishment in calling a smoothly-run show!

It seemed clear from actors’ comments in the program that Alison and Tanya worked hard to create a real sense of “team” amongst the cast and crew. This is a tremendous challenge well met!

It was a great pleasure to see new(er) cast members take to the stage, and ones who really pushed themselves and took personal risks to breathe life into their characters – well done everyone!

Special mention goes to Jeremy Whitlock’s Mitch, whose sincerity and dedication to his role impressed this reviewer.

Jeremy’s performance after Mitch has heard the rumours about Blanche was especially noteworthy.

Stage presence

Clara clearly put enormous effort into her portrayal of such a fragile and frantic character, and her hard work shone through her solid delivery.

However, further development of Blanche’s spiral out of control was necessary. In this way, Blanche would have been a more sympathetic character, explaining - and going some way to excusing – her exploitation of the people around her.

Blanche’s biggest defence mechanism is to live in fantasy; she “[doesn’t] want realism, [she] wants magic.”

This portrayal was missing the magic and desperation so essential to Blanche’s character.

Ian Graham as Stanley Kowalski delivered a thoughtful performance. He revealed Stanley’s faults, and created a simultaneously sympathetic and intolerable character.

He brought forth lots of energy, like his rage in the “Blanche’s birthday” table-clearing scene. Way to go!

His “Stella!” scene was a high point of the entire performance.

While it is clear through Ian’s performance that he cares for Stella, this reviewer would have liked to see more of Stanley’s protectiveness toward her.

Blanche and Stanley are polar opposites. Stanley is the one who sees through Blanche’s façade almost immediately and he feels a strong desire to protect his family from her manipulations.

More simmering anger under the surface of his character would have created enormous tension amongst the characters on stage and gone a long way to heating up the action.

Heather Hiltz in the role of Stella Kowalski was everything she needed to be. She delivered a solid performance.

She did an effective job at portraying Stella as a loving figure struggling to care for her two conflicting dependents, Stanley and Blanche.

As the battle between Stanley and Blanche developed, Heather portrayed Stella as a woman tragically caught in the middle, and she clearly communicated Stella’s struggle.

Heather hit emotional highs and lows throughout the show and must have been exhausted after pouring so much effort into her performance. Kudos to you, Heather.

Congratulations to the cast and crew for bringing Alison’s “dream to fruition.”

A special mention is required for Terry Myers and Wendy Sur, producers of this great undertaking, and a special thank you to Alison for her Trojan effort in bringing this production to life for our pleasure.

This reviewer looks forward to the next offerings from the Players. May they be myriad and many.