A Streetcar Named Desire (Kennedy Center)

A Streetcar Named Desire is my favorite play in the whole world. I have always loved Tennessee Williams. His words, his glorious words, are as relevant today as they were when he first wrote them, when I first read them, and when brilliant actors were speaking them last night. I read Streetcar when I was about 14. I'd already read Glass Menagerie for 8th grade English. I went on a hunt for all things Tennessee. I loved his Southern, colorful, verbose characters, his imagery, and the brooding sensuality in his men. But Streetcar was special. It grew even dearer to me when I went to New Orleans for college and the magical, gritty city was brought to life.

As an actress, I’ve wanted to play both Stella and Blanche, of course. What actress doesn’t relish the challenge of Stella, the ingénue belle who went from debutante to put upon wife of a common laborer? Simple and sweet and innocent on the surface, and teeming with a bit of a twisted desire beneath, secretly loving when her brutish husband ravishes her, when she revels in the naughtiness of it all.

And Blanche…a tour de force for any actress who can accomplish that perfect balance of delicacy, manipulation, lusty prudishness, and true mental illness. As someone now over 30, I can understand the desperation to cling to youth, to will the hands of time turn back.

Last night, I was bursting with excitement at the prospect of seeing my favorite show at The Kennedy Center. Blanchett isn’t just a movie star seeking legitimacy with a starring stage role. Her list of theatre credits is longer than her list of movie credits, and she doesn’t act…she allows the character to take over her entire being. I knew she’d be good.; I was unprepared for her brilliance. She used her voice in so many ways to capture Blanche’s fragility and then her throaty sexuality. She was earthy, and yet she literally fluttered from room to room, creating ribbons of light and frenetic energy wherever she went. She shimmered as brightly as a flame and just as quickly extinguished her own flame. Her body language was fascinating, and she remained in character even during blackouts and scene changes, relishing her role in every second that she was onstage, and probably even the few moments she was off the stage. She had moments as giddy as a schoolgirl and then as brittle as an elderly widow. Even from the balcony, her eyes haunted me.

Joel Edgerton as Stanley managed to channel Marlon Brando’s iconic interpretation without stealing from him. He gave his own intensity, swagger, charm, and frightening glimpses of the animal Blanche proclaims him to be. He was hot, literally and figuratively, and he captured every nuance that Williams wrote for Stanley.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of either one.

I wish the same could be said for Stella, or Mitch, both who seemed content to play the stereotypes without digging deeper. The tiny supporting roles of other characters could have been much more…but everyone either phoned it in last night or never really owned their characters in the first place. It didn’t matter. The show belonged to Blanchett and Edgerton, and rightly so.

I was enthralled by the performance. I held my breath repeatedly during certain scenes, spellbound, and the hush over the audience was deafening. The three hours were suspended in time while the story unfolded before us. When Blanche spoke her immortal line "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers" chills ran through my body, and my eyes filled with tears.

I loved that this production found the wealth of comedy in the script and acted on it…much of Act I was played for laughs but in an appropriate way. That was very unique. The old Mexican woman singing while Blanche felt into one of her trances was such an intriguing juxtaposition. The staging was lovely, as were the costumes and the set. There was motivation behind every gesture, line, movement, and it was all right, all the time. There were some interesting choices with veils for Blanche that perfectly summed up her constant need to cloak herself in lies and that spoke volumes.

There was nothing ground breaking or earth shattering in this staging, but you know what? The play doesn’t need it. It doesn’t need frills or cheap theatrics to succeed. It doesn’t need to be reinvented. It’s timeless, and all it has ever needed are marvelous actors to breathe it into life. And with Blanchett and Edgerton, that goal was achieved, fulfilled, exceeded.