Tuesday, 28 July 2009

A Streetcar Named Desire - a (p)review

Walking into the intimate space that is the auditorium of Donmar Warehouse, you're immediately struck by the sense that something quite familiar has been subtly changed. Upon closer inspection, all three sides of the balcony seating area have been transformed into decorative balustrades that echo the spiral staircase in one corner on stage, and the railings that seem to constitute 'floating ceilings' high up in the air. Welcome to Tennese Williams's New Orleans. Even before the play starts, you're captivated by this elegantly constructed world (designed by the Donmar veteran, Chris Oram, in his signature grey hues) where there's a sense of mad decay lurking just underneath the plain surface, in every corner, of the Kowalski household. It captures the stage direction by Williams perfectly, juxtaposing the exterior and the interior in one setting.

Any production of Streetcar, though, ultimately depends upon the central quartet of the cast, and in particular to whoever portrays Blanche Dubois, the faded Southern beauty whose own decay in this household forms the emotional core of the play. Vivienne Leigh's Oscar-winning performance on silver screen was such a definitive interpretation, made all the more poignant by her real-life descent into madness, it's almost the inevitable yardstick to which every actress taking up the role would be compared. I suspect Rob Ashford (who choreographed Donmar's celebrated 'Guys and Dolls', and also directed the excellent yet underrated 'Parade' here) thought long and hard about choosing Rachel Weisz as his Blanche. Despite a slightly faulty start, she quickly takes total command of the role, showing us Blanche's deceptive dreaminess, innate passion and vulnerability, jealousy (fundamentally, of everyone else whose life seems simple and straightforward compared with her own) and eventual derangement, layer by layer, an onion of a human tragedy, to devastating effect. Her long, breathless monologue to Mitch, the eager and clumsy suitor, revealing her unfortunate past (or at least part of it) at the end of Scene Six, was the highlight of the whole evening, an acting tour-de-force, and the perfect spot for an interval filled with a much-needed stiff drink (for the audience, not her).

Yet there's one fatal problem to this otherwise commendable casting choice: Weisz is decidedly not a faded beauty, but a beauty in full bloom. When Blanche, pondering the possibility of bagging Mitch (an Barnaby Kay, also impressive) as her last chance at settling down with someone, nervously suggests to Stella that 'Men lost interest [in women] quickly, especially when the girl is over – thirty', the intended comic effect cannot possibly be achieved, because she truly and honestly looks like, well, thirty one. And later, when a drunken, heart-broken Mitch confronts her about her less-than-honourable recent past, tearing down the lampshade which she's used to create the eternal haze in the room in order to hide her own decay, what's startlingly obvious to anyone in the room is the fact that this is a stunning young woman, not the memorable, deeply-lined, heavily made-up face of Vivienne Leigh from the same scene in the film. One may argue that this should be overlooked in lieu of the strong performance from Weisz, but impressed as I was, I couldn't help thinking this was a perfect example of dramatic incongruity.

The rest of the cast also did a good job, although easily eclipsed by Weisz's central performance. Elliot Cowan's Stanley is muscular, ruthless and viciously attractive in the Brando mode, who also handled the comic element in some of the early scenes (especially when he scavenges through Blanche's suitcase) well. Ruth Wilson is a competent Stella, though one would have wished for a bit more emotional depth. A very nice touch from Ashford is the ghostly appearances of Blanche's ex-husband and his old lover, in her reminiscence/monologue scenes. It would be churlish to dismiss such a remarkable effort just on the grounds of miscasting, so I would really recommend that you do go to see it. Just use your imagination and try to accept Ms Weisz as really being fifteen years older than she appears. You may need to try very, very hard but this Streetcar's worth it.

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