THEATER REVIEW: A Streetcar Named Desire at BSC

Submitted by Chris Newbound on August 10, 2009 - 1:20pm

Theater

A Streetcar Named Desire

(Barrington Stage Company, through August 29; 520 seats; $36-$56)

Reviewed by Chris Newbound

A Barrington Stage Company production in three acts.

Written by Tennessee Williams, directed by Julianne Boyd.?

If it?s true that you?re as sick as your secrets, then it?s no wonder that Blanche DuBois is one twisted sister. But what shouldn?t remain a secret for long is what a superb production Barrington Stage Company (BSC) is putting on of A Streetcar Named Desire, one of the truly great plays of the twentieth century and arguably Tennessee Williams?s finest. All to say, run, don?t walk, to get in line for tickets to see this play with this cast.?There will inevitably be other productions of Streetcar, and perhaps even some close to home, but it would be foolish to trust that such future ones will match BSC?s: this one is the one you don?t want to miss.

Director Julianne Boyd (who has had one busy summer taking care of her usual duties as artistic director and also directing BSC?s first offering, Carousel) has all the pieces working for her here, starting with a superb vertical set by Brian Prather that both evokes the French quarter of 1940s New Orleans as well as the mounting claustrophobia of the three main characters sharing their cramped living space; Scott Pinkney (lighting designer), and Elizabeth Flauto (costumes) have also gotten it just right.??

But it?s the remarkable ensemble work by the actors that helps showcase what this work was and still is: a masterpiece of psychological realism that does what Henry James once said all truly great work must risk doing?somehow walk the fine line between such realism and over-the-top melodrama without tipping the balance. How easy it is, then, for a production of Streetcar to misstep and become a parody of itself, to seem as if it?s nothing more than what one might find on a contemporary soap opera, or even spoofed on SNL, and yet, acted with restraint and total commitment to this particular world that these very particular characters inhabit, the result is, well, extraordinary.

While on the surface, little actually happens during the spring, summer, and fall that make up the play itself, there is so much texture and back story to the work that it feels like a completely fleshed-out world, whose tragic tale reaches its sad conclusion only because of all these minor, but entirely understandable shifts in the emotional climate that then lead to equally small, but crucial misunderstandings between the three principals: Blanche, Stella, and Stanley. Like all great tragedies one is left feeling, if only, if only, if only . . .If only Blanche really could rely on the kindness of strangers and, more importantly, the kindness of non-strangers.

Stella and Stanley, newly married, are visited by Stella?s older sister: Blanche DuBois has recently fallen on hard times, having lost the family homestead and her job as a school teacher in the town where Stella and Blanche grew up. Blanche finds the working-class husband her younger sister has married, Stanley, crude and violent, comparing him to an animal, calling him a Polack, and certainly not in any way resembling the gentleman she imagined both herself and her sister marrying. And yet: Stella is wildly happy with her Stanley. There isn?t a woman in all of theater who is as sexually satisfied as Williams?s Stella?who is soon pregnant.

Overstaying her welcome by a wide margin, a subtle, psychological war starts to be waged between the volatile Stanley and the fragile Blanche, fueled not just by arguments about swilling Stanley's liquor and taking too much time in the bathroom, but also by a powerful sexual tension that neither seems to be the least bit aware of, at least not on a conscious level.

As Stanley starts to find out more about what is and isn?t true about sister Blanche, a more complete picture is presented for us, the audience as well, of a ?wanton? woman who has created something of a reputation for herself back in her hometown. News, however, without the internet, travels not so fast. But the proverbial straw that has broken the camel?s back is Blanche?s recent overtures to one of her young male students, leading to her dismissal on moral grounds before the school term has ended. ?

As subtext to all this is Blanche?s early marriage to a sensitive homosexual that ended in the boy?s sudden suicide following Blanche?s cruel remarks, in essence ?outing? him in public as a degenerate after catching him alone with an older man. ??

While there are no weak links here, Kim Stauffer as Stella and Christopher Innvar as Stanley more than hold up their end of the bargain. Stauffer?s petiteness (she looks like a dancer as much as an actor) works well for her here, especially whenever she leaps into Stanley?s arms (nearly always on display) or when carried through their door by him, seeming like a child, but also a woman, as she is enveloped by the relatively massive Innvar, who seems as comfortable as Stanley as he has been in the past at BSC in works by Oscar Wilde or Noel Coward. For those familiar with such previous performances, such a transformation is quite stunning.

And Innvar makes a shrewd choice to opt for an entirely different Stanley over the famous, and preserved-on-film performance by none other than the legendary Marlon Brando; instead, Innvar creates a more contemporary, less mannered, and maybe less obviously vulnerable Stanley than that of Brando?s Kowalski, while still displaying a Stanley every bit as likeable, real, sympathetic, and, most importantly, forceful.

The one minor complaint is Marin Mazzie?s Blanche. While Mazzie is frequently in sync with the others, there are occasional lapses where we feel the actress working a little harder than the others at playing the part, as opposed to simply being it. The larger-than-life ?magical? Blanche begins to take over at times, but this is a small thing likely be ironed out as the run progresses. Mazzie?s more substantial physical stature (as opposed to say Vivien Leigh, who played Blanche in the famous film version or Jessica Tandy who originated the role on Broadway) is also something of a disadvantage when evoking Blanche?s delicate fragility.

Kevin Carolan as Mitch, it should also be noted, does a heroic job of filling the very big shoes of another heavyweight performance still in our minds, that of Karl Malden as Mitch who both originated the role for the stage and film, and who only recently passed away. And Miles Hutton Jacoby, as the young collector, once more offers proof to the adage that there are no small parts, just small actors, here coming up as big as one can in such a minor role as this.

But it is Williams himself who is the real star here, a legend among the living, and proving with the aid of this fine production just why he is considered so, reminding us all of what a complete artist working at the peak of his powers can do. Still, despite such forewarning, it does feel nothing short of miraculous that this sixty-plus-year-old Streetcar remains every bit as riveting and real and heartbreaking as it was when Williams first put pen to page.

[August 10, 2009]

Blanche DuBois . . . . . . . . . . .?. . . . . . . . . . . .Marin Mazzie

Stanley Kowalski. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christopher Innvar

Stella. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kim Stauffer

Mitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kevin Carolan

Eunice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jennifer Regan

Steve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Juback

Young Collector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Miles Hutton Jacoby

Negro Woman/Blues Singer/Mexican Woman . Chavez Ravine

Pablo/Blues Musician. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thom Rivera

Nurse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emily Taplin Boyd

The Doctor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeffrey Kent

Set Design: Brian Prather. Lighting Design: Scott Pinkney. Costumes: Elizabeth Flauto. Sound: Brad Berridge. Music Director: Brian Usifer. Stage Manager: Renee Lutz. (Approx. 3 hours three hours including one intermission and one ?pause.?)

Chris Newbound is the theater critic for www.berkshireliving.com.

[l-r: Christopher Innvar, Kim Stauffer, and Marin Mazzie star in BSC's A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams]

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