RENEWING THE MAGIC IN STREETCAR AT BOSTON COURT

REVIEW: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO

Since its first performance in 1947, A Streetcar Named Desire remains among the finest plays of the 20th century and one of Tennessee Williams’ most beloved works. Of the original production, New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson wrote:

“Like ‘The Glass Menagerie’ the new play is a quietly woven study of intangibles. But to this observer it shows a great step toward clarity. And it reveals Mr. Williams as a genuinely poetic playwright whose knowledge of people is honest and thorough and whose sympathy is profoundly human”.

Now over seventy years later, the Theatre at Boston Court presents this masterwork with contemporary and multicultural transformations bringing a new kind of clarity for modern audiences to experience.

(L –R) Desean Kevin Terry (Stanley), Maya Lynne Robinson (Stella).

Director Michael Michetti not only uses a multicultural cast, complete with two African American actors as Stella and Stanley, but takes this a step further by casting Blanche as the only white actor. This seemingly small detail makes all the difference—it’s the pièce de résistance that unlocks layer after layer of nuance and intrigue. Now, from the onset, we see how out of place Blanche feels in this environment full of people, culture and class that are not her own. The use of a multiracial cast here is not distracting, but only adds to the fiery potency found within Williams’ play.

Jaimi Paige as Blanche is riveting and profound. She fully embodies Williams’ text in her body and mind—there is nothing contrived or hyperbolic. Audiences will find themselves easily transfixed by Paige’s performance from her first entrance to her downward spiral into delusion at the play’s conclusion. Desean Kevin Terry brings out the animalistic nature of Stanley exhibited in his strong body language, he’s a hardworking man that we can relate. Stanley’s territorialism once Blanche enters is palpable and his disdain for her grows as she threatens the status quo of his home. Maya Lynne Robinson offers a refreshing take on an often vulnerable Stella by presenting her character with strong-willed personality instead as a weak mousy woman. While at the mercy of her violent husband and volatile sister, Robinson’s Stella has the resolve to handle them both.

(L – R) Desean Kevin Terry (Stanley), Jaimi Paige (Blanche)

What’s immediately striking about this production is the pre-show entertainment consisting of a live DJ, sound designer Sam Sewell, and male vocalist, Paul Outlaw, who engage audiences with traditional jazz-based songs in an electronic R&B style. This aptly sets the tone and time period for the play before it even begins—modern day New Orleans French Quarter complete with cell phones and references to Hurricane Katrina. To learn more about Outlaw’s choices for the song performed in Streetcar please visit his post: “Songs in Boston Court’s A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE”

Even more fascinating about this is that Sewell remains on stage for the duration of the performance running sound up-close and personal. Sewell’s sound design is the lifeblood of this production. From sound effects, hip-hop grooves, to soundscapes with spoken lines from the drama, her choices support everything that is happening internally and externally.  Outlaw too returns appearing as the “Negro Woman” character who in this production is expressed as a gender non-conforming singer. These appearances seem to represent the spirit of New Orleans with songs that often echo the emotional energy of the prior scene—he’s a sublime talent with a smoky voice that wafts through the air like a fine cigar.

(L – R) Jaimi Paige (Blanche), Desean Kevin Terry (Stanley)

Set designer Efren Delgadillo, Jr. creates a two-story complex framed with pipes and transparent walls, there is no privacy in the Kowalski tiny household. This design gives audiences three angles to view the play—there’s action happening all around, and we’re just flies on the wall.

It is unlikely that you will ever experience a production of Streetcar that has as much grit, cultural relevance and contemporary originality as this production at Theatre at Boston Court—it’s all the magic of Williams’ original masterpiece seen vividly through a state-of-the-art lens.

Performance Schedule:
A Streetcar Named Desire
Written by Tennessee Williams
Directed by Michael Michetti
Thursday, February 15 through Sunday, March 24, 2018
Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm; Sundays at 2:00pm 
Opening: Saturday, February 24 at 8:00pm
Closing: Sunday, March 25 at 2:00pm

Tickets and Information:
Boston Court Performing Arts Center
70 N Mentor Ave. Pasadena, CA 91106
Website: www.BostonCourt.com
Phone: 626.683.6801
Prices: $20 – $39