A Streetcar Named Desire
by Tennessee Williams

Directed and Designed by Lon Winston

CAST

STANLEY KOWALSKI. . . . . .Lee Sullivan
STELLA KOWALSKI. . . . . .Jennifer Michaud
EUNICE HUBBELL. . . . . .Tamela Kenning
BLANCHE DUBOIS. . . . . .Valerie Haugen
FLORAL VENDOR, NURSE. . . .Mayra Ramirez
HAROLD MITCHELL “MITCH”. . .Tim Rafelson
STEVE HUBBELL. . . . . . . . . . .Mark Gregory
PABLO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Carlos Herrera
THE COLLECTOR. . . . . . . . . .Gerald Delisser
DOCTOR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tripp Watts


Lighting & Sound Designer. . . . . . . .Brad Moore
Stage Manager. . . . . . . . . .Heather Miller

 TRTC stages lively, vivid “Streetcar”
by Terray Sylvester
Sopris Sun Staff Writer

It was intermission at a performance last weekend when one Thunder River Theatre patron leaned toward his neighbor and admitted, “I’m having a hard time with him not being Marlon Brando.”

“I know,” agreed his seatmate some what ruefully. “He’s gotta be.”

The two were laughing at themselves a little. They’d just discussed how much they were enjoying Lee Sullivan’s performance as Stanley Kowalski – Sullivan’s physicality, his energy, his big bravado mixed with flickers of vulnerability – but still, it was tough. For them, “A Streetcar Named Desire” led in one obvious direction: toward Brando in ‘51 in the first film production of the play, with his volatility and his physique and that iconic sweat-soaked undershirt.

Which is what TRTC’s Artistic Director, Lon Winston, had anticipated. To help his audience see past the play’s most famous actors he took a few precautions. His note in the playbill was subtly titled, “‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ is not a play about Marlon Brando,” and he lowered the stage lights until they hung in easy view of the audience. As Winston described it, the low lights were a nod at the “Hollywood-ization” of Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, a chance for the audience to acknowledge their expectations and then peer past them for a fresh look at everything else the play might mean.

“Streetcar” is a tale about an “emerging America,” Winston says, and not just the America that was shuddering into existence in the wake of World War II when the play was written. It also depicts the America struggling to re-imagine itself right now, as it reels out of two long wars and a drunken economy into a world wracked with upheaval. “We’re coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan and the world is exploding,” Winston said. “Tennessee Williams was really exploring the rebuilding of America.”

To celebrate the centennial of Tennessee Williams’ birth, a year in which theatre troupes around the globe are performing his plays, TRTC is staging what may be the playwright’s best-known piece. “A Streetcar Named Desire” continues from March 4 through 6 and from March 10 through 12. Performances take place at 7:30 p.m., except the March 6 Sunday matinee, which starts at 2 p.m. The theatre company will round out its 16th season in June with “The Trip to Bountiful” by Horton Foote.

It may not feature Brando and Vivien Leigh, but TRTC’s “Streetcar” still feels packed with star power. That’s in spite of the fact that the 10-person cast contains only two of the theatre company’s members: Valerie Haugen as Blanche Dubois and Carlos Herrera as Stanley’s poker buddy Pablo. In Haugen’s hands, Blanche flashes from flirty to vindictive, even while managing to maintain a constant, brittle tension. Her performance complements Sullivan’s commanding stage presence which, under Winston’s direction, eclipses the rest of the male characters. He’s louder, not just verbally, but in his vibrant motion as well.

In her debut role with TRTC, Jennifer Michaud plays Stella Dubois, and her moving performance will likely leave TRTC fans hoping for more of her in the future.

But it’s not just the cast that makes the production zing, the set design and costumes contribute as well. Battered window shutters festoon the theatre, not just over the stage but above the seating, pulling the audience into 1940s New Orleans, and pulling the plight of the characters into the life of the Roaring Fork Valley. Meanwhile, in the second half of the play Haugen’s hair is almost constantly wet, no matter whether she’s dressed for a date or in a dressing gown. That bit of dishevelment is the result of Blanche’s compulsive bathing, but it serves as a clever reminder that even when she appears calm on the surface, she’s struggling like hell underneath.

The play is appealing for its rhythms as well. In one scene a door slams in Haugen’s face, and just as she reels backward a wave of laughter buffets her from behind. Blanche is trapped, and the audience feels it viscerally.

The production is filled with such touches. It’s a lively, vivid rendering of “Streetcar,” and an opportunity theatre fans shouldn’t miss.