A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. To 21 May.

Mold

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
by Tennessee Williams

Clwyd Theatr Cymru (Emlyn Williams Theatre) To 21 May 2005
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat Sat 2.45pm
Captioned 21 May 2.45pm
Talkback 12, 19 May
Runs 3hr 10min One interval

TICKETS: 0845 330 3565
www.clwyd-theatr-cymru.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 5 May

A Streetcar that mostly plays its cards right.The Emlyn Williams Theatre's epic intimacy suits this play. A street snakes round the Kowalskis' downtown New Orleans tenement flat. Along it comes bewildered Blanche, who's lost her grip on post-bellum country life; the family estate slipped away, her precarious living as a schoolteacher was suddenly terminated.

Kerry Peers' deep-black hair and white, feathery-topped dress form a contrast of extremes, unlike sister Stella in her more mellow colours. Adjusted to the city, Stella's first seen descending the building's long stairway with casual familiarity, Amanda Ryan catching the flexibility, resilience and realism of a woman who'll storm out on husband Stanley but always comes back.

Or who'll back down from Blanche's defensive attack over losing the family property, though it doesn't take her long to see her sister's weakness - a warning note creeps in when talking about Blanche's drinking. We see also the contrast between Blanche's refined manner and her race to the bourbon; from the start, there's a feverish quality to the ladylike southern-belle manner.

Stanley's soon on to it. Tristan Gemmill and director Nikolai Foster make clear the money motive behind his turning against Blanche, however instinctive the personality clash might anyway be. Gemmill's ferocious attack it takes two friends to restrain him, (as it will take two medics to escort Blanche away) catches an animal fury that elsewhere seems superimposed (though he has a rough way with a chicken leg).

Peers' Blanche plays at vulnerability with the desperation of someone determined to survive. She's making-up her face at the moment she first sees Stanley's naked torso. But the clash of passions never reaches white heat. Stanley is brutal, but often right in his criticisms of Blanche - as when acting to protect his friend Mitch (Stuart Laing a youthful, nervous victim-in-waiting) from her. Yet it's under Stanley's influence the reticent Mitch himself becomes a sexual attacker.

This is a firm, if finally unbalanced Streetcar. And Foster stirs up a fine climactic storm, with a sudden shock as the doctor removes his face-shading hat to reveal the actor who'd played the youthful charity collector with whom Blanche had earlier toyed.

Neighbour: Andrea Harris
Sailor/Young Collector/Doctor: Joshua Dallas
Stanley Kowalski: Tristan Gemmill
Mitch: Stuart Laing
Stella Kowalski: Amanda Ryan
Eunice Hubbel: Josie Walker
Blanche DuBois: Kerry Peers
Steve Hubbel: Jason Haigh
Pablo Gonzales: Guy Rhys
Matron: Jennifer McEvoy

Director: Nikolai Foster
Designer: Paul Wills
Lighting: Guy Hoare
Sound: Kevin Heyes
Composer: David Shrubsole
Dialect coach: Neil Swain
Fight director: Richard Ryan

2005-05-11 06:51:58