A Streetcar Named Desire

reviewed by Robert S. Robbins – May 5, 2005


I saw Tennessee William's "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the Community Theater League tonight. Although the sexuality theme may have been quite shocking when the play was first produced, it seems rather melodramatic now. The only aspect that seemed relevant was the fact that Blanche was a school teacher who seduced one of her students and that kind of thing has been in the news. I've always preferred Tennessee William's play "The Glass Menagerie" and bought the film version staring Katharine Hepburn and Sam Waterston on DVD because we were shown that movie in high school.


The acting was very intense and emotionally engaging although the southern accents were not very good. I was pleased to find Curt Miller playing Mitch. I know Curt from the Coalition Of Independent Artists and Artisans. The stage set was appropriately shabby and gave the impression of being an actual place. This added to the realism of the domestic squabbles. An spiral iron railing staircase provided the necessary New Orleans atmosphere and some jazzy painted backdrops provided a bit of urban flavor. The musical selections often seemed odd and rather dated.


Although I did not find this particular tragedy very moving, I thought about the drama of our shabby, ordinary little lives acted out by unattractive people. The human condition is inherently tragic and you can regard even a quiet moment as being quite poignant when you think about all the unfulfilled hopes and dreams, the waste of one's potential in shabby, grubby circumstances. However, you can't be a tragic figure without considering your finer qualities and accomplishments that give you self worth. Characters like Blanche DuBois are usually made too desperate and defeated to the point where we feel aloof pity rather than genuine sadness over their downfall. It is for this reason that drama should elevate the tragic figure to royality even if the person is doomed to utter defeat.


The playbook mentioned that the director, Tom Ryersbach, had a role in "Equus". I have not heard about that play in a long time and after checking out the movie version as reviewed on Amazon, it sounds pretty interesting. Perhaps that will be the major legacy of tonight's entertainment, i.e. to get me to read that play.

posted by Robert Robbins @ 12:50 AM