March 14 , 2012
\nAdelaide Festival
\nTheatre<\/p>\n
A Streetcar
\nBased on A Streetcar Named Desire
\nby Tennessee Williams
\nOdeon \u2013 Theatre de l\u2019Europe
\nFestival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
\nMarch 14. Tickets $ 30 – $ 129
\nBookings : BASS 131 246\/ adelaidefestival.com.au
\nUntil March 18.<\/p>\n
First performed in 1947, Tennessee Williams\u2019 A Streetcar Named Desire is a 20th century classic, and one destined to endure because, in director Elia Kazan\u2019s 1951 film version, we have a permanent record of many features of the original stage production \u2013 its design, theatrical style and, of course, the performances by Marlon Brando as Stanley, Kim Hunter as Stella and Karl Malden as Mitch. Vivien Leigh replaced Jessica Tandy as Blanche, and however disputable her interpretation, it remains the template for Williams\u2019 portrait of a Southern belle in a changing world, a woman more sinned against than sinning. <\/p>\n
The Adelaide Festival\u2019s exhilarating Odeon-Theatre of L\u2019Europe production, directed and adapted by Krzysztof Warlikowski (and translated by Wajdi Mouawad) is fascinating in its deconstruction \u2013 and liberation- of a play trapped in the amber of its time and place. It does not replace the published original and presumes a knowledge of it, but with its fragmented, mashed-up, but very recognizable text, it reframes the action and the meaning.<\/p>\n
The excellent design by Malgorzata Szczesniak (inventively lit by Felice Ross) turns the spacious Festival Theatre stage into a bowling alley with rows of metaphoric skittles waiting to fall. It also features, literally, a glass menagerie \u2013 sealed, but transparent, acting spaces representing bedrooms and bathroom -highlighting the characters\u2019 entrapped isolation. The real-time video screens, often a clich\u00e9 on the stage, work powerfully, usually in monochrome close-up, to intensify the performances. <\/p>\n
Central to the success of this production is the outstanding performance by Isabelle Huppert as Blanche. Waifish, coquettish, anxious, euphoric, she captures the wild mood swings of Blanche, the party girl in little black dress and stilettos; Blanche with an eye for St Laurent and Dior clothes she can\u2019t afford; Blanche the lost soul whose time is running out. It is a portrait that reveals her energy and intelligence as well as her trusting nature. When she flirts with Stanley in what Williams calls their date with destiny, her vulnerability is terrifying. As Stanley, Andrzej Chyra is blunt, selfish and deliberately uncharismatic \u2013 even if he is catnip to the enmeshed, sexually charged Stella (Florence Thomassin). Yann Collette plays a rather sinister Mitch and Renate Jett as Eunice, doubles as a singer\/narrator. <\/p>\n
Not everything works, however. The interpolations from other literary sources are sometimes cryptic and – especially the huge scrolling text of a 16th century Italian poem about star-crossed warriors Tancredi and Clorinde – seem misjudged. Similarly, the narrator\u2019s direct address to the audience about commitment in love, and the use of songs, such as the cheesy Eric Carmen composition All by Myself, is jarring.<\/p>\n
But nothing detracts from the vivacious assurance of this production, or our sense of re-visiting a great play in an invigorated way. <\/p>\n
Murray Bramwell<\/p>\n
\u201cMasterful wringing of a belle\u201d The Australian, March 16, 2012, p.14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
March 14 , 2012 Adelaide Festival Theatre A Streetcar Based on A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams Odeon \u2013 Theatre de l\u2019Europe Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre March 14. Tickets $ 30 – $ 129 Bookings : BASS 131 246\/ adelaidefestival.com.au Until March 18. First performed in 1947, Tennessee Williams\u2019 A Streetcar Named Desire is a 20th century classic, and one destined to endure because, in director Elia Kazan\u2019s 1951 film version, we have a permanent record of many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,5,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-23","category-archive","category-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1792"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1793,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792\/revisions\/1793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}