Review: A Streetcar Named Desire

By Shaina Mangino

Full of power and emotion, Town & Gown’s adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire was a happy surprise. In a time of war and turmoil, Streetcar follows the lives of Stanley and Stella Kowalski and Stella’s sister Blanche DuBois over the course of a hot, tumultuous 1940s New Orleans summer.

As the curtains opened at this tiny playhouse off of Prince Avenue., it seemed as though Town & Gown’s rendition of Streetcar would simply be a lackluster version of the classic 1947 play written by Tennessee Williams. Initially, the performers seemed as if they had little training. It was hard to picture John Ginn as Stanley Kowalski after Marlon Brando’s performance in the 1951 film version. Stomping and yelling onto the stage, Ginn didn’t have Brando’s charisma nor did he deliver his lines fluidly. It sounded as if he was being prompted by cue cards. The creepy flower girl walking up and down the stage was also a little jarring.

However, Shelley Marck added some light to the stage in those initial few moments. She slipped right into her role as Stella Kowalski. Marck was extremely convincing as the young, naïve girl driven by the spontaneity and passion of New Orleans’s French Quarter and her husband.

About 10-15 minutes into the first act Kris Schultz Tanner made her entrance as Stella’s troubled, pretentious, Southern belle of a sister, Blanche DuBois. Coming from Laurel, Mississippi because her family plantation, Belle Rêve, was “lost,” Blanche doesn’t seem privy to the simpler ways of those living in gritty New Orleans. She gets off the streetcar named Desire looking quite scared and alone. Her sister welcomes her but almost reluctantly, for she knows of the interrogation to come. In no way does Blanche approve of Stella’s lifestyle or marriage to brutish Stanley.

Blanche lives in a fantasy creating illusions of youth, beauty and love for herself. As needed for this highly intense, multi-dimensional role, Tanner has extreme access to her emotions, but maybe she has too much access to them. Her portrayal of Blanche was annoying at times and it felt like someone just needed to take a rope and lasso her off the stage. The overacting in scenes where she merely talked with Marck’s character looked forced and overdone. On the flip side, Tanner’s overacting came in handy during the heated arguments and confrontations between Blanche and Stanley.

As the play moved in and out of scenes, each actor began embracing his or her role and became very believable by the end of Act I. The passion between Stella and Stanley wasn’t as awkward as it initially seemed and Ginn began to make his movements more fluid and brought the right amount of humor to Stanley’s shrewd but not-quite-all-there mentality. Though he really came into his role, Ginn severely lacked emotion in delivering the much-anticipated line that Brando made famous in 1951, “Stellaaaaaaaaaa.” Marck acted as a balance between the more multi-faceted roles of Stanley and Blanche, effectively playing the meek mediator for these two rivals. Though Act I was a little drawn out, it really set the tone for the rest of the play, which was much more intense and fast-paced.

The simple set design worked well for Streetcar since nearly the entire play takes place at the Kowalski residence. Minor scene changes were accompanied by dimmed lights and stage hands wearing black who added and removed props, which may have distracted some, but was reminiscent of the simple surroundings. The costumes looked authentic with Marck getting to wear some of the more fun, flirty dresses and 40s styled, high-heeled shoes. The minor characters of Eunice, Steve, and Mitch stabilized the three main characters by acting as a contrast to their stronger personalities.

Over the course of the next two acts, the audience learns of Blanche’s troubles and what she is really all about. The characters’ true personalities were revealed and there were a few surprises. Even though it got off to a bumpy start, Streetcar pulled through. The actors’ emotions radiated off of the stage and by curtain call several members of the audience mentioned how the play took a lot out of them emotionally. Its intensity was surprising for a production of this magnitude. The turbulent relationship between Blanche and Stanley peeked in the final 30 minutes culminating in Blanche’s ultimate undoing. Town & Gown’s Streetcar proved that a small-town community theater can produce a play full of drama and emotion.