I ain't gonna be hypocritical - I'm gonna be honest and critical

The latest in an occasional series of theatre reviews...

A Streetcar Named Desire : The Phoenix Theatre

Back to seeing real people treading the boards - and at a new theatre as well!  I've never seen this play, but unsurprisingly I have heard of it (this and Cat On A Hot Tin Roof are Tennessee William's best known, aren't they?).  It was a very hot ticket earlier in the year, mostly due to the presence of Paul Mescal (from Normal People) so when it was extended I thought I'd go and see what all the fuss was about.  

And, walking in, I suspected the fuss wasn't due to the set design - that's one bare stage!  I was intrigued what they were going to do with it - what I wasn't expecting was ten people to appear on stage and start dancing around to a very loud drumming.  And then there was shouting as well - I had a suspicion this was going to be a very long evening...

But, fortunately, things did calm down quickly enough and we got on with the story - Blanche DuBois (Patsy Ferran) is somewhat down on her luck, so turns up to stay with her sister Stella (Anjana Vassan) and her husband Stanley (Paul Mescal) in their two room apartment in New Orleans.  And well, I think it's safe to say things don't go smoothly - and that's probably as much as you need to know from me.  You know that things aren't quite as initially portrayed and they aren't going to end well, but the tension ratchets up nicely - I did find the ending a little histrionic (but reading up on things, it seems like there are some changes in this version which downplay some of the more extreme sections of the original).  

As expected from a play that was extended, it is very well acted and since everyone was making such a fuss about Paul, I'm going to start with Patsy.  She was the stand-out performance of the night for me - Blanche has a LOT of words in this play, many of which are delivered at breakneck speed in a hysterical voice.  There are also quite a few quieter scenes involved and she switches into those well - all in all, it's a very impressive performance from an actor I wasn't previously aware of (although she does have a minor role in God's Own Country).  The internet also tells me she gives us a different take on Blanche because she looks so young (there is much talk about the character being past her prime) but they say that as a good thing and who am I to argue.  It also tells me she only stepped into the role with a week's notice after Lydia Wilson withdrew for health reasons - which just makes it all the more impressive.

Being contrary, let's consider Anjana Vassan next, who I do know from her amusing turn in We Are Lady Parts (which is well worth a watch) - not that I've have recognised her from my seat up in the gods.  Stella seems to be a far less dramatic role (I can't claim to be an expert!), with her often seeming merely to be called upon to react to either her sister or husband - but Anjana backed it up with a quiet determination when required and she portrayed some difficult scenes well.

OK, OK - let's FINALLY get to Paul (who I've actually never seen in anything!).  Did he deliver under the burden of all the expectation from the mostly (I would say 80% in my area) female audience?  Well, he gets his top off at one point so I'm sure that kept some of them happy - but I would also say his acting was also up to scratch.  I would say that Stanley is not a nuanced role, but I felt he delivered the required menace and shoutiness as necessary.  The only other acting that feels worthy of a name-check is Dwane Walcott as Mitch, who does a fine job but is somewhat overshadowed by the others given it's a smaller and quieter role - but I'm also going to mention Jabez Sykes for the very odd shapes he makes with his body in the dancing segments.

The direction was quite interesting - the stage was never heavily populated, but props found their way onto the edge of the stage via the "off-stage" actors (who spent most of their time hanging around the fringes).  I was somewhat impressed that this was second play I've seen this year where it rained though - it had a proper downpour twice!  I did find the obligatory (for Tennessee Willams plays) Deep South accents somewhat distracting - particularly in the more frenetic scenes where some of the meaning was lost to me.  But they weren't nearly as annoying as the drumming - I actually got what they were trying to do with it, but it was just too loud.  But I'm just quibbling here - it's not like it ruined the evening for me.

And what was the theatre like?  It looked a little dated but my seat had plenty of leg room and the view from the Grand Circle was pretty good - I couldn't see some of the stuff going on "upstairs" but this only happened a couple of times in the play so it was no big loss.  It didn't help that one of the women in my row had to go out twice in the first half, but she was super apologetic about the whole thing and I don't feel I can really blame the theatre for that - unlike the guy they let take his seat ten seconds after the play started!

All in all, despite it being one of his best known plays, I can't say I loved it but I didn't get the impression that this production was to blame (I may try and watch the film to see what I think of that) and the acting was certainly top notch here.  I do enjoy Tennessee Williams as a theatrical experience though (I've seen three of his plays in my life now!) - it feels like you're going to see a "proper play" so it was certainly an enjoyable evening out.  But you'll be struggling to get tickets for this one now, I'm afraid.

Good - Our first NT Live experience
Shirley Valentine - A good performance of a great play