‘Streetcar Named Desire’ stages battle between new, old worlds
By Tom McClary - For the CDT
July 15, 2010 7:24pm EDT
Unexpected visits from family or friends are often times joyous occasions. But the surprise arrival in the State College Community Theatre’s fourth summer production, Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece “A Streetcar Named Desire,” threatens to tear an entire family apart.
Set in post-World War II New Orleans, the drama chronicles the wrenching dilemmas precipitated when Blanche DuBois shows up suddenly from Mississippi on her married sister Stella’s doorstep. Although the subsequent conflict between the siblings is harrowing, the play’s epic battle is reserved for the visitor and her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski.
“Streetcar” operates on many thematic levels. It is at once a study of reality and illusion, a history of the fall of the “old South” and the rise of American industrialism, and a meditation on the relative virtues of romantic idealism and skeptical, self-serving pragmatism. The play is also an exemplar of Williams’ signature brand of poetic dialog.
It premiered on Broadway in 1947 and won the Pulitzer Prize for 1948. It is often revived (most recently in London in 2009 and New York in 2005), was turned into a multi-Academy Award winning movie in 1951, has been twice filmed for television, and was adapted for the operatic stage in 1998 by Andre Previn with Renee Fleming as Blanche.
Williams’ other major dramatic works include “The Glass Menagerie,” “Summer and Smoke,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Sweet Bird of Youth,” “Suddenly Last Summer” and “The Night of the Iguana.” Many of these stage successes also transitioned well to the cinematic screen.
This SCCT production of “A Streetcar Named Desire” is directed by Charles Dumas and produced by David Price and Amber Daughtry. The sets are designed by Jon Vickers-Jones, and the costumes are designed by Ramona Broomer. David Jesukiewicz is the stage manager.
Susan Riddiford Shedd, artistic director of the Nittany Valley Shakespeare Festival and operations manager of The State Theatre, takes on the daunting task of portraying of Blanche.
“The most challenging thing about this job is the very short rehearsal time — three weeks — given to a play and role of this magnitude,” Shedd said.
Sunam Ellis, a self-described “stay-at-home mom with two amazing boys,” plays Blanche’s younger sister Stella. Ellis said her director has described Stella as “the battlefield and the prize” for both Blanche and Stanley.
“Stella left the more refined world of Belle Reve (her ancestral home) about 10 years before we see her in the play, and since then, she has embraced the more earthy and primal world of Stanley with arms wide open,” Ellis said. “Blanche’s appearance creates a struggle for Stella as she tries to reconcile these two worlds — without much success.”
Ellis assessed the production.
“Plays just aren’t written like this anymore,” she said. “The depth of the characters is phenomenal, and the gradual growth of tension … is a marvel to see (and perform).”
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