A Streetcar Named Desire

Postcard review by Caroline Russell-King

Show – A Streetcar Named Desire

Playwright – Tennessee Williams

Production Company/Theatre space – Theatre Calgary, Arts Commons.

Length – 2 ACTS (3 hours 15 minutes one intermission)

Genre/s – Drama.

Premise – A woman blames herself for the suicide of her young husband, and after losing other family members, palatial home, and money goes to stay with her married sister who is living in a tenement in New Orleans and as the temperate soars tensions escalate and her mental health plumets.

Why this play? Why now? – An iconic classic of the American theatre this play has name recognition and carries a certain nostalgia and hasn’t been done for a few years.

Curiosities – I wondered if it would hold up as a period piece, with its attitudes to women and gay men.  As I did with Steel Magnolias I wondered if I will ever see a play in Calgary where I’m not thinking about accents?

Notable Moment – The Blanche and Mitch scenes are lovely.

Notable writing – Williams is a master. Who am I to say that there is an absent scene in this Pulitzer winning drama? The play pivots on a missing moment when Blanche tells her sister that Stanley raped her and Stella doesn’t believe her, either because she has lied and fabricated so much, or admitting this will forever change her marriage.

Notable performances – There is some fine work being done on that stage. Lindsey Angell plays Blanche with a frenetic, breathy quality. I know as critics we aren’t supposed to comment on actors’ bodies, but I’ll risk it and say Stafford Perry lives up to the image we all have of Stanley. There was definite friction between these two but some of the smolder was missing, so when he says, “This has been a long time coming” it really hadn’t. Sheldon Elter was perfect as Mitch, Devon Brayne the standout poker player, and Katelyn Morishita plays Eunice and sings beautifully linking the scenes with her powerful voice.

Notable design/Production – The lighting design and sound scape are an important part of this play. The streetcar plays a role, it’s not just ambient noise, as sound designer Joelysa Pankanea will have known. Also, the text deals with metaphors for light and shadow, so it’s a gem for a lighting designer and Bonnie Beecher lit it well.

Notable direction – Daryl Cloran gives us feeling of heat, both in the French Quarter and in the coupled and solo sex scenes. The blocking isn’t as languid as the text suggests, but with a one-hour 50 minute first act it’s best to keep things moving. I was sometimes confused by the logic of when characters could and couldn’t hear each other, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the production.

One reason to see this show – This is one of the greatest plays of the 20th century – go.