A Streetcar Named Desire
Reviewed by Dana Martin
Dance On Productions
Through July 7
Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize winning play, A Streetcar Named Desire, is an American masterpiece. Set in the sultry French Quarter of New Orleans in the 1940’s, Streetcar is tragic, sexy and practically pitch perfect. But while Dance On’s interpretation of Williams’ iconic play is competent, the actors are miscast.
Aging Southern belle Blanche Dubois (Susan Priver) rather unexpectedly arrives on the doorstep of her younger, kinder sister Stella (Melissa Sullivan), who’s newly pregnant and married to Stanley Kowalski (Max E. Williams), a rough and fiery Polish-American factory worker and former army master sergeant. Stella invites Blanche to stay with them in their cramped two-room apartment, an arrangement far below Blanche’s lofty, aristocratic standards, but she’s in no position to refuse. She’s in dire financial straits, as the family’s plantation, Belle Reve, has been lost due to massive accrued debt, and with it, the sisters’ legacy and inheritance. The news doesn’t sit well with Stanley, who suspects that Blanche’s hasty visit carries more selfish, sinister motives. Still, Blanche makes herself reluctantly at home, though she wears out her welcome soon enough. She preens, pouts and presents demands, effectively turning Stella into her assistant, much to the growing rancor of Stanley, who imagines himself king of the castle. Blanche’s relentless commentary on Stanley’s lack of refinement, her horror at Stanley and Stella’s volatile and at times physically abusive relationship, her manipulation of Stanley’s simple friend Mitch (Christopher Parker) — all this solidifies Stanley’s resentment and he becomes hell-bent on breaking her.
Susan Priver’s Blanche is little more than breathless poetry and affected physicality. Too often she gets caught up in the sounds she’s creating rather than the actions she’s depicting. She stumbles over text and rarely gets to the meat. Blanche is described in the play as a tiger and a moth. Priver is all moth, no tiger. Max E. Williams finds a quirky, idiosyncratic Stanley; his performance is the most unique and intriguing of the evening. In terms of brutish rage and indignation, Williams does not disappoint. His Stanley is tightly wound, perpetually ready to fight, or fuck, or both. Melissa Sullivan’s Stella is earthy and kind. She has a calming effect on the other characters and provides balance but lacks Stella’s youthful ignorance. Christopher Parker finds the right blend of neediness and desperation as Blanche’s would-be suitor, Mitch.
Director Jack Heller hones a classic, straightforward version of Streetcar. The play’s arc and tempo hit all the right notes, while the production design is appropriate and the acting ranges from decent to excellent. Derrick McDaniel’s lighting design is serviceable. Set design by Joel Daavid is fabulous; his attention to detail is impeccable, and one immediately gets the sense of sticky, sultry New Orleans. Shon LeBlanc’s costume design is spot-on. Christopher Moscatiello’s sound subtly hints at the play’s tone and transitions seamlessly into Blanche’s faded memories.
But something major has been lost in the age disparity between the actors and the characters as written. A Streetcar Named Desire finds Stella and Stanley in the throes of youthful ignorance and naivety, serving to underscore Blanche’s fading beauty, the loss of her youth, her desperation and her subsequent escape into a world of delusion. Dance On’s production features a cast considerably more mature than the characters they portray, inevitably altering the play’s intended meaning and inadvertently creating a new and unintended narrative. The characters’ actions and behavior become a bit ridiculous rather than young, fiery and forgivable. It’s just not the play Williams intended.
Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Sawtelle; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Jul. 7. (310) 477-2055, ext. 2 or OdysseyTheatre.com. Running time: two hours and 45 minutes with one 15-minute intermission.
