Tennese Williams’ Pulitzer Prize winner “A Streetcar Named Desire” is still one of Broadway’s most critically acclaimed plays. Written in 1947 and adapted to the big screen in 1951 in the Academy Award-winning film starring Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando and Kim Hunter, the themes of desire, illusion, trauma and power remain timely. Now, boasting an exceptional cast and a minimal set, a 21st-century audience is experiencing the tragedy of what happens when delusion and reality come crashing together.
Helmed by Olivier Award-winning director Rebecca Frecknall, “A Streetcar Named Desire” (now playing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music following successful runs in the West End) opens in New Orleans with a loud, thunderous bang — literally. The cast spills onto the plain square stage mounted on gray bricks. Their boisterous conversations war against the obnoxious clanging of the drums. Shortly thereafter, Blanche DuBois (an exceptional Patsy Ferran) arrives at her younger sister Stella (Anjana Vasan) and brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski’s (Paul Mescal) front door. Fragile and nearly coming apart at the seams, Blanche seems barely able to get ahold of herself even after she’s let in the tiny French Quarter apartment by her sister’s landlord (Janet Etuk).
When Stella gets home, she’s shocked but pleased to see her older sister. She immediately goes into caretaker mode, allowing Blanche to drink her husband’s liquor and drone on and on about taking a leave of absence from her job as a high school teacher. Blanche also reveals that their family’s palatial estate, Belle Reve, in Laurel, Mississippi, has been taken by creditors. Though Stella does her best to soothe her sister, she’s unsure how to receive this information.
With her nerves already on edge, Blanche is further startled by the arrival of her brother-in-law Stanley, a brutish drunk who has bulldozed his way into Stella’s heart. Over three acts, viewers watch as Blanche desperately tries to cling to the delusion of her former life. Obsessed with being seen as a proper Southern Belle, Blanche often lays around the apartment draped in her finest frocks, or takes long languishing baths even amid the suffocating heat of a Louisiana summer.
Frustrated by Blanche’s arrival and his wife’s compassion for her, Stanley becomes set on ripping her down. He begins poking at her, exposing her many secrets and pushing her to the edge of her sanity. Mescal makes for a fantastic Stanley. He is almost gleeful in dismantling Blanche’s newfound romance with his friend, Mitch (Dwane Walcott), and revels in her constant discomfort. With untamed rage, he turns violent and volatile at the drop of a hat and is utterly mannish toward his wife and his sister-in-law.
The story of “A Streetcar Named Desire” remains timeless in this rendition, aided by the powerful performances. The barebone scenic construction (designed by Madeleine Girling) enables the story to stand alone without the extra frills usually found on more traditional sets. Specialized water effects by Water Sculptures are also beautifully effective, allowing audiences a window into Blanche’s increasingly fractured mind.
However, some of the production choices are jarring, thrusting viewers out of the tale at the most inopportune times. The thunderous bangs from a drummer hovering just above the stage are incessant throughout. Though the drumming signals Blanche’s interruption in the Kowalskis’ lives, the audio level often drowns out the actors’ dialogue, forcing the audience to strain themselves to hear what’s occurring. Additionally, several interpretive dance sequences, sprinkled throughout, feel strange and out of place for such a timeless work of American theater.
“A Streetcar Named Desire” is more than eight decades old, and there are always ways to make it new and refreshing. Yet in this production, a couple of these choices seem overwrought, especially since this ensemble of actors is more than equipped to convey the concepts of Williams’ work.
Despite some more puzzling production decisions, Frecknall’s staging of “A Streetcar Named Desire” is darkly profound and beautifully acted. A testament to Williams’ insight into the crushing transition between the past and the present, especially amid rapidly changing gender roles for women, the play is sharp, bold and still as devastating as ever.
