A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams’ play, A Streetcar Named Desire, may not be the obvious choice for a school performance. Its themes include insanity, rape, domestic violence, homosexuality and sexual obsession; not exactly the ingredients you might pick for a school audience. But the same list of themes could be applied to ‘Hamlet’ and even the most Victorian of schoolteachers would find it hard to object to Shakespeare in the Bushell Hall. Nevertheless Williams’ play did shock when it was first performed in 1947 and the censored moments from the 1951 film version were only re-instated as recently as 1991.
Apart from the ‘adult themes’, the play also requires a raw psychological and sexual energy to bring the dialogue alive. The acting demands maturity, confidence and a particularly intimate and a demanding kind of teamwork.
Given these two central aspects of Streetcar, Bex Lockyer made a brave choice to stage the play in the Bushell Hall. Anyone who saw the Solihull School production will know that her faith in the cast and her production team was very well founded. The sheer talent of the cast, combined with an attention to detail and a commitment to Williams’ script were at the heart of an extraordinary performance.
The central character is Blanche DuBois, a fading Southern belle, whose past is haunted by the opposing but linked forces of death and promiscuity. Not an easy role for a school girl to carry, especially as Blanche has an enormous number of lines, a drink problem and an emotional range which flares from nostalgia, to petulance, to flirtation. Camilla Holder’s Blanche was elegant, languid, brittle and very convincing. Camilla’s chameleon-like stage presence encompassed a huge range: coquettish to broken, assertive to psychotic, energetic to utterly enervated. Her visual appearance on stage shifted from 1950’s Martini advertising model, posing with a cocktail glass, to a cardigan-wearing housewife, hunched over the kitchen table. The cardigan was brilliant costume touch, suggestive of the straightjacket Blanche is almost forced to wear in the final scene.
Blanche has come to New Orleans to visit her sister, Stella, who was played with real authority and sensitivity by Frankie Jackson. The apparent intimacy of these two sisters, which is eventually shattered by the events of the play, was carefully established in the early scenes. Camilla and Frankie were convincingly close. They supported each other and Stella’s care for her fading and neurotic sister was obvious. Frankie’s portrayal was again supported by excellent costume choices and by her strong stage presence. The moment she leaned over the kitchen chair as her labour pains began was particularly powerful. Stanley, Stella’s brutish husband, is the obvious villain in this play. The evidence seems conclusive: he swaggers and shouts, he hits Stella and finally he rapes his sister-in-law whilst Stella, his wife, is giving birth. And yet Williams does not allow us to demonise Stanley. After all Blanche has invaded his private space, drunk his whisky and is fighting him for his wife’s loyalty. In a long tirade to Stella, Blanche calls Stanley ‘bestial’ ‘sub-human’ and ape-like’. Stanley, who has overheard all this, can be forgiven for wanting revenge on Blanche.
Enter Richard Swain as Stanley. Costume is used powerfully throughout this production, so it’s no great surprise when Richard manages 30 seconds on stage before taking 50% of his clothing off. This early chest bearing to Blanche signals Stanley’s physical nature, as well as allowing Richard to display his six pack to the audience. His smoking and drinking with the lads was carried off to great effect but it is his relationship with Stella that gave Richard’s portrayal three dimensions. He was by turns caring, flirtatious, aggressive and intimate.
The largely sixth form audience loved the moment he picked Stella up and carried her to the bedroom. However, his animal-like howling of Stella’s name and his increasingly aggressive banter with Blanche were also very impressive. Richard’s Stanley provided exactly the right blend of aggressive masculinity and tenderness to kindle the passions in the two women.
These three central actors created the emotional intensity of the drama with great maturity and assurance. Their battles for attention and loyalty were powerfully convincing. They were ably assisted by rest of the cast, from the brief but haunting appearance of Faye Barrett’s Mexican flower woman, to Vicki Thomson’s bawling Eunice, whose husband-chasing antics provided genuine moments of light relief. Matt Harris was especially convincing as Blanche’s nervous suitor, not least in his final struggle as Blanche is removed by the doctor. He captured Mitch’s fragile, moodyintensity with real assurance, providing an excellent balance to Stanley’s loud-mouthed bravado. On the first night Matt also created a moment of real life drama. Prior to kicking a paper lantern, Matt placed his lighted cigarette next to the bed. By the end of the scene only heroic backstage work by Edwin Halliday prevented the production’s metaphorical smouldering breaking out into real flames. This was real teamwork!
The staging of the production was very impressive. Kevin Hunton’s set with its discordant angles, interesting levels and a range of domestic properties allowed the actors to roam when necessary but also created intensity and realism. The lighting was atmospheric and interesting. The costumes, which were changed or discarded on stage with an almost frivolous frequency, were spectacularly successful.
The whole team, including Helen Pike and Lisa Fair as co-producers, deserve real congratulations. Bex Lockyer’s gamble paid off: A Streetcar Named Desire was a haunting and powerful success. The commitment, teamwork and sheer talent of the cast brought Williams’ demanding characters to life with energy and passion.
Mr C R Farmer