Tennessee Williams’ play, A Streetcar Named Desire, is as relevant today, in its exposure of the precarious position of women when sections of society are overtly patriarchal, as when it was first performed on Broadway in 1947. It draws out the vulnerability, both material and psychological, of Blanche, who becomes dependent on her younger sister, Stella, and her brother-in-law, Stanley. The haunting nature of her tragedy was perfectly captured by the production staged by Upper and Lower Sixth Form students and directed by Mr Wass.
The cast delivered an energetic and poignant performance, thoughtfully exploring the play’s darker themes with nuance. Bea, drew out Blanche’s self-loathing and superiority complex and Finn captured Stanley’s toxic masculinity. While Mili brought the audience’s focus to Stella’s weak tenderness, Ed developed Mitch’s susceptibility to the problematic values of his society.
Clever staging underlined the claustrophobic nature of the lives of the women of the play: a curtain separated their quarters from those of the main action and their access to the male world was through this curtain, forming a physical barrier between the room for playing poker and the elusive fire escape. Blanche was separated in various ways from the others when her past was discussed, implying its role in her social exclusion. The production’s use of lighting also drew out truths of Blanche’s character and experience, placing her under the spotlight in the aftermath of her questioning about her past by her suitor, Mitch, who tore the flimsy barrier of a paper lantern from a single exposed lightbulb before his rejection of her. When Blanche was taken to an asylum, following her mental breakdown, which was caused, in part, by her sister’s disbelief of her accusations of assault by Stanley, the lamenting bell tolled for the death of Blanche’s independence and spirit- a sound which lingered with the audience long after the end of the play.
This production of A Streetcar Named Desire was a triumph. It provoked its audience to reflect on how behaviours and socio-economic pressures can bring out the very worst in people. And, through Bea's extraordinary central performance, to witness the cathartic and enduring power of tragedy.
Jonathan, Lower Sixth Form
