A Streetcar Named Desire (Robert McDowell)Raleigh Little Theatre Review A Streetcar Named Desire is a must see drama Raleigh Little Theatre's riveting revival of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams is a must-see drama. It is superbly staged by long-time RLT artistic director Haskell Fitz-Simons, who really emphasizes the casual crime that punctuates the boredom in the sordid surroundings that provide the backdrop for the play's Sturm Und Drang. RLT's rendition of Streetcar features an absolutely marvelous true-to-life scenic and lighting design by Rick Young for the Kowalskis' shabby apartment, terrific 1940s (mostly blue-collar) fashions by costume designer Vicki Olson, and a skillful sound design by Rick LaBach. RLT's Streetcar also features an electrifying performance by David McClutchey as brutish, sexually aggressive Yankee vulgarian Stanley Kowalski and a luminous portrayal by Mary K. Rowland of Kowalski's emotionally fragile Southern sister-in-law, Blanche DuBois. Stanley Kowalski is a feisty ex-Marine of Polish extraction, and McClutchey plays him as a cocky, self-absorbed jerk. Kowalski likes to drink, gamble, and shoot the breeze with his low-life friends from the nightmarish section of the French Quarter of New Orleans, circa 1947. But, most of all, he likes to ravish to his long-suffering wife, Stella (played grit and spunk and touching vulnerability by Ami Bossi). And she likes to ravish him right back! Indeed, that mutual lust causes Stella to forgive a multitude of sins, including Stanley's escalating verbal and physical abuse. Then the arrival of Stella's sister, Blanche, with her highfaluting put-on airs, precipitates a crisis in the Kowalskis' marriage. The animal attraction that draws Stanley and Stella together to rut is absolutely repulsive to the refined "lady"--an old-maid schoolteacher--such as Blanche. But she is a lady who likes to flirt and has far too many ugly skeletons rattling around in her own closet. She really knows how to get Stanley's goat, and she cannot resist doing just that until one day he strikes back at her with devastating results. Rowland creates a deeply moving characterization of Blanche, a bruised and fading blossom of a now impoverished branch of a aristocratic Southern family; and Stanley would like nothing better than to pull off her petals, one by one. Battered in body and spirit, Blanche finds a most sympathetic interpreter in Rowland, who gives a chilling recreation of Blanche's harrowing descent into madness. Rob Jenkins is good as Stanley's drinking buddy--and Blanche's beau for the briefest time, until Stanley wrecks the relationship--Harold "Mitch" Mitchell, but Betsy Bates needs to be more outspokenly assertive as the Kowalskis' upstairs landlady, Eunice Bates. David Coulter, Sherry Derry, Del Flack, Bob Harris, Ursela McCabe, Steven B. Mitchell, Timothy O'Connor, Greg Paul, Nikki Sallie, and Tippy Thornton complete the strong supporting cast of RLT's outstanding production of this Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece of Modern Drama. Don't miss it. Raleigh Little Theatre presents A Streetcar Named Desire Wednesday-Saturday, Oct. 23-26, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 27, at 3 p.m. on the Sutton Main Stage, 301 Pogue St., Raleigh. $13-$19, except $11 students/seniors Oct. 13. 821-3111. AUTHOR: Since 1973, Robert W. McDowell has written theater, book, and music reviews for Spectator Magazine of Raleigh, the Raleigh News & Observer, The Raleigh Times, and North Carolina Magazine. Robert'S Reviews has nothing whatsoever to do with any of these publications. Questions or comments? E-mail RobertM748@aol.com. FORMAT: Robert's Reviews is an e-mail theatrical newsletter. Thanks to John Lambert and the "Classical Voice of North Carolina" web site, this newsletter also is available on the Internet as Robert's Reviews (Online Edition): http://www.cvnc.org/Theatre.html. If you would like to receive a PDF (Portable Document Format) version of this publication, please e-mail RobertM748@aol.com and specify the issue desired. (To view or print PDF files, you must first download and install a free Adobe Acrobat Reader from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html) SUBSCRIPTIONS: Robert's Reviews is currently free. To have your e-mail address added to its mailing list, e-mail me and type SUBSCRIBE ROBERT'S REVIEWS in the Subject: line. To have your name removed from its mailing list, e-mail me and type UNSUBSCRIBE ROBERT'S REVIEWS in the Subject: line. COPYRIGHT: You may copy and distribute all or part of this newsletter without payment provided that you credit the reviews to: Robert W. McDowell, Robert's Reviews. You are here: Home > Reviews and articles about the theatre's productions > A Streetcar Named Desire (Robert McDowell) |