Melissa Burggraaf

March 21, 2017

Production Critique: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

Many believe that blood is thicker than water. In this society, family relations are labeled

as crucial and are given priority over other relationships. A Streetcar Named Desire is one of

Tennessee Williams' most well known and awarded plays for the idea that these family ties are

often strained and attacked by unforeseen circumstances. These supposedly strong family ties are

attacked in the story of poor Blanche as she takes a bed in her sister's small home in New

Orleans. There, Blanche finds herself in tension with Stanley, her sister's husband. Every

moment on stage is a step closer to understanding the truth and realizing that the secrets Blanche

is keeping in the dark are hidden for a reason. A prominent attacker on the relationships seen on

stage is fantasy. It is revealed that Blanche is a flirty Southern Belle because she does not want to

face her reality. She often lies to hide the terrible truth of her life. In this production of A

Streetcar Named Desire, the walls of the apartment were often transparent. This supports the

idea that the fantasy life we create in our own homes have thin walls and have no choice but to

be penitrated by the harsh reality of the outside world.

In the Grand Theatre, a New Orleans street was the obvious destination as soon as the

audience sat down in the proscenium theatre. Brass instruments blared through the speakers,

taking you to the lively environment of Louisiana. The home seen on stage was detailed and

quaint. It was clear that the people living there didn't have much but they made due. The set
pieces leaned toward realism and helped carry the story, but that was not the element of this

production that stood out the most. The lighting of this play made all the difference to the story.

The lights supported the theme in how we often overlook reality with fantasy. Blanche

tended to stay away from the light so that others wouldn't see how old she truly was. She liked to

cover the light or only be in a room with a single candle. When the truth and reality finally came

out, a harsh bright lamp with no shade would be shoved into characters' faces. Reality was

unavoidable and would always be seen in the end. Light and music also added to Blanche's

fantasy and helped the audience differentiate between Blanche's imagined world and reality.

Whenever Blanche recalled her past, either vocally or in her head, the French doors on the porch

above the house would be lit with bright vivid colors of blue and red. The music was a polka that

was simple and easy to remember so that every time it came on the audience knew what was

going on in the protagonist's head. And in the terrible moment when Blanche's lover commits

suicide the lights turn bright white and the music suddenly stops with a loud bang. Every detail

used with light and sound guides the audience to the discovery on their own that Blanche is

avoiding reality through fantasy.

Every character on stage was portrayed accurately and true, but the actor who stood out

to me the most was Robert Scott Smith. His role was of the brutish and violent Stanley and

anytime he was on stage I could not take my eyes away from him. Stanley is not, nor should be,

the favorite character to anyone reading or watching this play. He is abusive, rude, and clearly

the antagonist of this story. But Smith's portrayal of this flawed man was incredibly humanistic

and real. Every emotion Stanley felt had a purpose and it was clear to the audience why he was

acting out in such a way. There was a moment when Stanley overheard Blanche talking about
him to Stella through the window and it was as if he was shouting a monologue of his thoughts

to the audience by only using his eyes. His emotions were spot on and there were times when

you began to feel and understand Stanley. He wasn't an evil supervillian that was one

dimensional and only there to cause trouble. Stanley was a human being like everyone else. A

powerful scene that surprisingly moved me to tears was the moment when Stanley had hit Stella

and was calling her name out on the street. Everything about him was desperate and ashamed. He

pleaded and cried for Stella to return to him. Smith took Tennessee William's antagonist and

made him real. The vile act he does in the end is ten times worse because we know, deep down,

that Stanley is a misguided soul like many of us.

Overall, this production of A Streetcar Named Desire exceeded my expectations. I was

drawn into the simple but real world of Blanche, Stella, Stanley, and Mitch and couldn't take my

eyes away from the story unfolding before me on stage. This production wasn't perfect and there

were times when I had a hard time empathizing with Blanche whether because of her character

or the actress portraying her. Often time the actress portraying Blanche, April Fossen, would get

lost in her dialect and the brilliant words of Tennessee William's would be muddled and lost. But

the chemistry between the actors on stage was believable and relatable. The moments of silence

on the large stage was poignant and powerful. The writing of the play itself was entertaining and

entrancing. Everything from the smashing of a dinner plate to a lamp without a shade came

together to remind us that reality and fantasy may always be in battle but it's up to us to decide

which one to believe.