Anna Burnside reviews a production of the classic American play that is almost perfect.
Blanche DuBois steps off the streetcar into the sweltering New Orleans of Tennessee Williams’ 1947 play pulling a giant travelling trunk and looking aghast at her surroundings.
It’s bad enough that her sister Stella is living in a one-room apartment. She also shares the tiny space with Stanley Kowalski, a bowls-playing salesman from the nearby factory. Now Blanche, a down-on-her-luck southern belle, must bunk down there too.
Williams constructed the events of that sweaty summer into one of the most important plays of the 20th century. Brittle, vain Blanche is one of the great female characters, and Kirsty Stuart does a grand job of capturing her increasing desperation.
Nalini Chetty’s Stella, torn between her sister and her husband, has the stoicism that women needed to survive in the days where men played poker and went bowling while they swept the floors.
Where Elizabeth Newman’s direction falls down is with Stanley, played by Matthew Trevannion as a testosterone monster with the volume turned up. Williams does all the heavy lifting necessary. The script more than shows Stanley’s cruelty and arrogance. No need to shout.
There is little else to fault in this production. It looks gorgeous - Emily James’s clever revolving set is both atmospheric and claustrophobic. It sounds great - Pippa Murphy’s lazy jazz soundtrack evokes the era without overdoing it.
Turn Stan down a few notches and this would be pretty much perfect.
A Streetcar Named Desire is at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh until November 9, 2024. It also performs at His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen (Nov 12-14).
Photo by Fraser Band.
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