| . | 12/08/2009
A Streetcar Named Desire
By: Stewart Schulman
PHOTO BY RICHARD TERMINE
In a theatrical season driven by cinematic star power, the Sydney production of “A Streetcar Named Desire”, currently playing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theater, does not disappoint its audience. The inherent power of the play itself, coupled with the charisma and talents of its star, the formidable Cate Blanchett (Blanche DuBois), and steady hand of its legendary director, Liv Ullmann (the Oscar nominated actress and muse to filmmaking genius Ingmar Bergman), drives the spectators to their feet at the curtain of this over three-hour-long production... even though at times, it felt that this particular “Streetcar” had been driven slightly off course.
It is clearly the indomitable nature of the text of this classic American play, combined with a generally smart and simple directorial approach to the material that allowed it, at times, to soar. The test of great writing, (and Tennessee Williams’ play manages to be both perfectly poetic and pleasingly pedestrian at the same time), is whether it will allow for latitude in interpretation. And to a large extent, this sold-out production of A Streetcar Named Desire from the Sydney Theater Company in Australia succeeds in its approach. Still, one wonders if the production couldn’t have been even stronger had a few of the choices adhered more closely to traditional interpretations of Williams’ brilliant text.
Ms. Blanchett is indeed a star. And she is also a great actress--one of our greatest. It is a testament to her craft and talent that she succeeds in a part that is usually associated with women of a slighter physical stature and more ethereal manner. She may be model thin, but she is tall and strong, and anything but a fragile bloom. (She’s closer to this Stanley’s height than you’d expect her to be.) Yet because she is such an amazing artist, you tend to see her as more delicate and vulnerable than her stature might suggest and her Blanche is memorable.
The rest of the cast of this production is solid. The 1930’s Southern American accents generally remain intact throughout the three hour running time. Emotional intentions are clear. Everyone is living in the moment along side the powerful and riveting Ms. Blanchett. Joel Edgerton’s sturdy, sexy, and street-smart Stanley is a highlight. Robin McLeavey’s Stella is gentle and nurturing, although it does seem a bit difficult to imagine her and this Blanche as having evolved from the same womb. Tim Richards’ Mitch is reliable and caring. Even Mandy McElhinney (Eunice Hubbell) and Michael Denkha (Steve Hubbell), the friends and neighbors upstairs, and Morgan David Jones (the Young Collector) hold their own on the stage with Ms. Blanchett.
All this is clearly due to the helming by Liv Ullmann, one of the all-time great actresses of the 20th Century. Without a doubt, her collaboration as an actress with renowned directors has taught her how to work with actors and educe emotional truth and intention from her company. And she does. Yet there were some directorial choices made here that seemed to move the journey of this Streetcar slightly off its tracks.
The stark bleak minimalist set (designed by Ralph Myers) inspired by New York born artist Edward Hopper’s “Morning Light” may evoke an intended isolation and solitude, but “stripped of extraneous detail”, it evokes little of the specific time and place of Williams’ play. The audience is given hardly anything to evoke the feeling of a New Orleans street in the French Quarter during the 1930’s. And unfortunately, (intentionally or otherwise), it feels like anywhere, anytime, USA.
And of course, A Streetcar Named Desire does not take place in some abstract universe. It occurs during a very specific, very tumultuous period in American history -- the Great Depression -- in the deep American South. At its core are the final vestiges of a dying epoch, an age of grandeur and gentility exhaling its final breaths.
It could be argued that it’s okay to leave all that to one’s imagination. Still, there are practical problems with the set that do affect the world of the play. The flat itself is so stark and depressing that one does wonder in the first scene between the sisters if Blanche is indeed correct in feeling that the place is so far below Stella, (or anyone’s standards for that matter), that an intervention ought to take place to liberate her from an impossible future with Stanley. Their sexual chemistry may last, but where will the Kowalski clan live once the baby comes? Surely Stanley could at least afford a stove. Right? The one Stella would have used to cook the birthday dinner Stanley eats like a ‘pig’ (during Blanche’s birthday party) if she had had one.
The bathroom is another obstacle. Set dead center, up-stage and open at top, it makes it impossible to believe anyone using it wouldn’t hear what people right outside it are saying about them. As well, the footprint of the set confuses entrances and exits. The ‘Strange Woman’ (Elaine Hudson), selling her few scant “Flores para los muertos”, (flowers for the dead), on the street, has almost nowhere to go, and settles herself on the stairs, virtually ‘serenading’ us, while inside the apartment Blanche struggles to salvage any possible vestige of her life with Mitch.
The musical choices (Sound Design by Paul Charlier), so integral to the inner life of the characters and the play’s transitions, were clearly well considered by the designer and director, yet somehow they seemed strangely ‘off’, incongruent with the nature of the play rather than unifying it. However, there is a lovely moment when Stella quietly listens to some music and seems drawn longingly away from Elysian Fields to another more genteel, forever lost time and place in her life. The costumes (by Tess Schofield) were evocative of character, mostly going ‘un-noticed’ (as they should) except for the pieces worn by the more appearance-conscious Ms. DuBois.
Finally, the choice at the play’s end to have this Blanche’s descent into madness be so utterly complete that she forgets to put on her dress for her cruise with Shep Huntleigh, is indeed bold and unorthodox. Still, even in madness one wonders if personal appearance (and ‘decency’) would not be the one thing Blanche might still cling to as she moves forward into madness and the next, and perhaps most tragic, chapter of her life.
All that said... there are truly moments of glory in this production. Cate Blanchett understands the language of William’s play and the heart of this gentle creature and what is driving her to drink. She understands what it means to be a pretty little fox whose options are “played out”. And to stand alone, terrified, and cornered by a pack of hungry dogs. And she delivers Blanche’s downward journey with a captivating ferocity. Still, it was the gentle and more reflective moments of her Blanche that were ultimately the most moving. One in particular, her speech to Mitch about Alan, the boy she married, and her culpability in his eventual demise, was gloriously heartbreaking. As for Joel Edgerton’s Stanley, (despite the obvious comparisons one will make with the role’s originator, Marlon Brando), Edgerton delivers as satisfying a portrayal of the iconic ‘Pole’ not ‘Polack’ as I’ve seen. His delivery to Stella of the goods he’s got on her sister Blanche was incisively cruel and unemotional, breaking your heart without a hint of melodrama or histrionics. And (as Stella) Robin McLeavey’s staunch refusal to believe any of Stanley’s condemning evidence only served to heighten the intensity of the dramatic tragedy.
Unfortunately, for the public, this run of “A Streetcar Named Desire” at BAM is sold out. Tickets went like hot-cakes. And I assume that in a theatrical environment where contemporary audiences display an ever-increasing appetite to bask in the presence of our cultural luminaries, producers will continue to put forth star-driven productions to put audiences into the seats of their theaters. Currently, stars such as Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, Jude Law, and Cate Blanchett are selling out theaters on Broadway and beyond. Which, I guess, is a good thing -- as it introduces new audiences to the magic of sitting in a darkened room with a sea of strangers and watching words on paper come to life in three dimensions right before your very eyes.
A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, Sidney Theater Company, Directed by Liv Ullmann, set design by Ralph Myers, Costume design by Tess Schofield, Lighting design by Nick Schlieper, Sound design by Paul Charlier. At BAM Harvey Theater (651 Fulton Street) 718-636-4100 or BAM.org Thru Dec. 20th.
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