A Streetcar Named Desire - Almeida / Phoenix

[nottobe]

Managed to get one of the restricted view seats on the opposite side of the stage. I have had the £10 restricted tickets many times and only had a bad view for Ink. I am curious why it is only a pair of restricted view seats on the opposite bank but for a tenner it is hopefully great value.

[stevemar]

[quote author="kit66" source=[/quote]I think ROPE and the marvellous BOY was performed in the round[/quote]


Oh yes, BOY was very unusual staging - basically a luggage conveyor belt going through the audience. Found a video here almeida.co.uk/boy-timelapse

There was also Game at the Almeida where the cast were inside a box - like observing the Big Brother House, with headphones. Very voyeuristic.


Getting back to topic, I suspect Streetcar will be a rather simpler concept!

[QueerTheatre]

Does anyone know the runtime? Im going to the matinee on the 30th, and meant to be off to Ian McKellen's Mother Goose after

[couldileaveyou]

Dec 20, 2022 14:05:12 GMT QueerTheatre said:

Does anyone know the runtime? Im going to the matinee on the 30th, and meant to be off to Ian McKellen's Mother Goose after

I saw someone on twitter say almost 3 hours, which sounds about right for Streetcar

[ShoreditchTom]

Looks like they've just added circle standing for £10 each on all dates...

[mrnutz]

We have some votes (including a 1 star!) but no comments. Please share your thoughts, folks!

[alessia]

Yes, v intrigued by the 1 star vote! That bad?

[G]

Dec 20, 2022 14:05:12 GMT QueerTheatre said:

Does anyone know the runtime? Im going to the matinee on the 30th, and meant to be off to Ian McKellen's Mother Goose after

It was 1.40h + interval + 1h (as advertised at the entrance yesterday (Monday) night, and sounds about right although I didn’t time it)

Rebecca Frecknall came on right before the start to briefly relay about Patsy Ferran having joined the company at the very last minute.  

Patsy Ferran was holding a notebook throughout the play (to jog her memory for her lines most likely, but very rarely looked at it during the first half; more frequently in the second) and called out ‘line’ once - this did not detract from the experience at all, it all very seamless.  She did such a great job!  Wouldn’t it be a risky choice to join at such a late stage and risk being remembered for doing a so-so job due to little time to prepare - well, risk masterfully averted, she was excellent as were all other actors.  First time I have seen a production of Streetcar and knew little to nothing about it - found it very moving and affecting.

[foxa]

Just got home from seeing it tonight and am still getting my thoughts together. I think this will be a very different production in January. Before the play began,the director, Rebecca Frecknall, introduced herself to the audience, explained that this was essentially their 3rd preview, with Ferran, who she described as 'the bravest person I know,' taking over on very short notice.

Although she does extraordinarily well, the lack of rehearsal for Patsy Ferran is obvious - she carries a book with her and although she only referred to it a couple of times, you were aware of it, which made it harder to lose yourself in the play and also, at times, made me anxious as if it could all fall apart at anytime. I loved Frecknall's Summmer & Smoke,which also starred Ferran and also had a minimalistic set. However, the minimalism worked better with that play - I couldn't help but miss the curtains, the significant empty chair, the bed, etc which are so important to Streetcar. It also, given the lack of rehearsal, gave extra problems for Ferran who was constantly having props handed to her and dressing/undressing onstage. Overall, I didn't love the design - another rain curtain (it was the chilliest seeming Streetcar I've ever seen which made all the talk of the heat seem a bit ridiculous and the poor actors were needlessly damp a lot), incredibly ugly costumes for Stella. I would be surprised if they don't look again at the staging of the ending - it was unfocused and very disappointing.

Yet there were sections that worked very well. I liked Dwayne Walcott's Mitch, played more attractively than usual and particularly his scene at the end of Act 1 with Ferran was strong. Ferran is an intelligent actor who is always watchable. Paul Mescal is fine - in a way this role works against his obvious strengths as an actor, but he found some moments. It's such a great play and there are talented people involved, so it's not going to be a waste of anyone's time.

Very attentive audience, a few standing at the end.

So I gave it 3 stars - though they really, really need to fix the ending.

[catcat100]

Saw this tonight and enjoyed it quite a lot. Its not a play I've seen before so went in blind.

Its not quite there yet, Patsy Ferran has done a great job in getting where she is now, booklet in hand (which kind off merges into her character) that she only uses on a couple of occasions but some of the longer speeches lack emotion and need more rehearsing. But she has definitely built a vunerable character there to work on. No complaints with the rest of the cast and the additional time they've had certainly shows.

Pretty certain that with a few more days this will come together nicely.

Its a very bare in the round stage with few props, atmosphere driven by lighting, atmospheric music, small amount of singing, some slightly too loud at times drums, and one other thing which i'll let you experience for yourself.

I feel this version, although stylised in places, it does get to grips with the meaty subject matter of the play and I don't think it pulls any punches.

3.5 stars for now (rounded to 3 in the poll) but should go up with more previews, I've just booked another show later in the run so will regrade if necessary.

I am quite confused with the 1 star already given. Usually I can see why someone would give a low or high score even if I didn't agree with them but do think there's enough here for better score but perhaps there's something that I have missed, maybe in not seeing another version of this often performed play to compare it too.

[stevemar]

Thanks G, foxa and catcat100 for your reviews. I’m really looking forward to this. As I picked up a seat at the “back” of the stage, is this actually staged in the round, rather than when the Olivier went “in the round” and it was far more of the back of heads than normal. Good on Patsy Ferran coming in at such short notice. Got to admit I’m looking forward to Paul Mescal even though I always think of Blanche being the main character, with Stella/Stanley and then Mitch.

[G]

Dec 21, 2022 2:33:16 GMT stevemar said:

Thanks G, foxa and catcat100 for your reviews. I’m really looking forward to this. As I picked up a seat at the “back” of the stage, is this actually staged in the round, rather than when the Olivier went “in the round” and it was far more of the back of heads than normal. Good on Patsy Ferran coming in at such short notice. Got to admit I’m looking forward to Paul Mescal even though I always think of Blanche being the main character, with Stella/Stanley and then Mitch.

Yes I would say this is staged in the round, would not be concerned about looking mostly at the back of heads. I was at the back of the circle and remember seeing a good mix of fronts, sides (?), and backs.

[stevemar]

Thanks G for the reply.

[digne]

For those wondering about running time, it ended at exactly 22:30 last night.

It must have been twenty years since I read the play, and I don't think I've seen it since, but I thought it was intriguing how it focused on Blanche's anxiety and compulsive behaviors. Even the book she carries feels more like an extension of those compulsions - unlike earlier mentioned it didn't take me out of the play at all. Instead I actually started to wonder whether it really was the text or just a prop, because Blanche clutches and refers to it so compulsively. I'd be intrigued to see how that develops later through the run.

[couldileaveyou]

Apparently Rebecca Frecknall herself is on as Eunice today

[stevemar]

A handful of seats available (mostly singles) for tonight (Thurs 22) and Friday 23 night

[Fleance]

Sept 2, 2022 9:55:28 GMT TallPaul said:

Sept 2, 2022 9:00:33 GMT scarpia said:

I'm hoping for a decent Streetcar...it's probably my all-time favourite play.

Do you expect every production of Streetcar to be exactly like the first, or do you accept that different directors will reinterpret the play in different ways?

The premiere production of Streetcar (1947-1949) was directed by Elia Kazan. The first national tour was directed by Harold Clurman. Clurman felt that Kazan's approach was to emphasize the triumph of Stanley; Clurman's approach was to emphasize the tragedy of Blanche, which is how the play is now generally seen.  Uta Hagen, who played Blanche on Broadway during Jessica Tandy's vacation, and on tour, offered this memory, in her book Respect for Acting. (Btw, Kim Hunter, the original Stella, who worked with Tandy, Hagen, and Vivian Leigh, told me that she felt that Uta Hagen was the best Blanche.)


“An extraordinary experience occurred when I was playing Blanche. While the four principals of the New York company took a summer vacation, they were replaced by the four of us who were to go on tour as the National company. Jessica Tandy took off six deserved weeks of rest, and the other three took only two weeks. This meant that I would work first with the National company – Anthony Quinn, Mary Welch, and Russell Hardie – and then, two weeks later, with Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, and Karl Malden. I got in a few rehearsals with the New York company, excerpt for Marlon! For a number of reasons, he didn’t appear backstage until thirty minutes before we were to go onstage for an SRO performance. We had never seen each other’s performance. Miss Tandy’s and my interpretation of Blanche were as different as Mr. Quinn’s and Mr. Brando’s Stanley. There was a hasty conference backstage: Should we risk playing together without a single rehearsal and without any knowledge of each other’s interpretation? Tony, who was standing by in full makeup, said he hoped Marlon would play because he didn’t want to hear the groans of disappointment from the audience if they were told Marlon wasn’t playing. Finally, I said ‘Let’s try to rehearse the first five minutes of the play and see what happens.’ It was such an adventure that we were both game. Nothing went wrong, and a lot went right. What made it work? Both of us were totally familiar with place, objects, and circumstances. Neither of us was willful or selfish. Neither of us violated the intentions of our characters. The rest of the four weeks continued to be adventurous. And so was returning to Anthony Quinn.”


--Uta Hagen, Respect for Acting, 1973

 

[jacob]

here tonight, looking forward to it ..
these costumes from the new press shots though look a bit … modern 😟 is that the direction with this?

[Dave B]

Just got here - no shows having luck at the moment. Janet Etuk is off and Rebecca Frecknall is playing Eustice tonight!

[jek]

My daughter went to today's matinee on an under 30 ticket and really enjoyed it. She said that Patsy Ferran was pretty much off book and that Rebecca Frecknall was off book as well (although, of course, it is a very small part). She particularly enjoyed the sound design.

[Steve]

Saw the matinee, and Ferran never looked at the book once, despite it being tucked under her arm. With the press night in mid January, it feels early to assess it, but that's what we do lol, so I'll say I liked it very much, and expect to fully love it if I'm lucky enough to see it again. I voted 4 stars.

Some spoilers follow. . .

With the drum behind the stage ominously signalling threats to Blanche, I felt very much that this play looks at Streetcar entirely from Blanche's perspective, inside out, with her presenting as completely normal, and the world around her as unreasonably out of kilter. This is unlike the usual set-up, where we perceive Blanche as damaged, removed and out of kilter with normal functioning human beings.

I remember my niece, rehearsing Blanche for a drama class, and how proudly she added all these anxious tics and flighty affectations to her performance. From my perspective, Patsy Ferran's Blanche has no tics or affectations whatsoever, delivering every line with conviction.

The effect of her apparent reasonableness, for me, coupled with the sympathetic drumroll that presents other people as a threat, was to render her perspective the norm, and through that prism, it is Paul Mescal's Stanley, Dwane Walcott's Mitch and even, ultimately, Anjana Vasan's Stella, who are the true fantasists: all three are utterly averse to seeing the ugliness in themselves that Blanche's appearance has forced to the surface.

Even at Blanche's flightiest moments, Ferran presents what are typically depicted as tragic delusions as deliberate cosplay, an entirely reasonable way to imagine away horrible impositions on her person.

It seems to me that Frecknall's (and Ferran's vision) is that the world, not Blanche, is entirely unreasonable. I appreciate this vision, as it reflects how I feel about alot of the unreasonable horrors we have to deal with right now, and like Blanche, I'm quite happy to indulge in fantasies (eg theatre) to escape from those unreasonable realities lol.

Frecknall herself was, remarkably, entirely off book, and in accent, as Eunice, the landlord.

And Ferran has come so far so fast that I really do hope to see this again after press night.

4 stars from me, for turning Streetcar inside out.

[mrbarnaby]

I saw the first preview and I’m not sure what to say.

Hats off to Patsy Ferran for stepping into the role- she’s an outstanding actress and I adore her. But there isn’t yet (understandably) any character at all there yet. She’s saying the lines and giving it her all- but Blanche she ain’t.

Paul Mescal very good, and Stella (forget her name)- excellent.



Janet Etuk as Eunice was , to me, awful. I simply cannot forgive terrible accents and hers was all over the place. Mainly based in London by the sounds of it.

I do think they are incredibly lucky that Patsy Ferran is stepping in and saving the show, but there’s no getting around the fact she would NEVER be cast as Blanche (at the moment) and it unbalances the whole show.

There’s no unique perspective In this production. It’s not bad, but it’s sadly nothing special at all. Not a patch on the Gillian Anderson and Cate Blanchett productions.

[theatrefan77]

I'm intrigued by the casting of Ferran in this. She'll be my fourth Blanche Dubois on stage after Jessica Lange, Glenn Close and Gillian Anderson. I enjoyed all three productions and I'm worried that this one won't be as good. Maybe they'll prove me wrong.

[jacob]

I really enjoyed this tonight and feel very lucky to have seen this so early on in previews. I went in to just have the chance to see the play performed live and it was truly great to see it all creatively realised onstage too. I liked Rebecca’s direction (and her Eunice as well) and was very impressed that both herself and Pasty suitably filled in their assigned roles. Frecknall stuck out only a little but I must give her credit for the lines and blocking remembered!

Just a few creative thoughts instead of comments on character interpretations;;

slight spoilers

The in the round staging was really pleasant and blocking was fine from where I was sat. The creative choices were okay too, a lot of water and bare feet onstage. and the crushed grapes and the paper lantern remained at the end ! . i almost wished that there was a little bit more to the set as it felt a little bare-bones at times. Williams’ intricate descriptions of sunsets and colourful skies are sorta lost too,, as there’s nothing to really project / cast the colours onto. The coloured lighting however did remain for the poker scene. A chair was substituted for Blanche’s ‘bed’, and I felt that the lack of the portières took away from the moments of separation and then intrusiveness. The choices for modern-ish costumes was .. definitely a choice as some of the costuming then didn’t correlate with the original script. Stanley does Blanche’s dress up when she mentions the ‘buttons’ at the back which is just a zipper on a red dress.. Stella has no white lace, Blanche no white dress , Mitch’s alpaca coat is a green blazer (?) and so on. The ending coulddd have been a bit more loud and dramatic with the shadows / echoing as in the book, toning down as Blanche exits.
The drum player was great, but unfortunately no blue piano or trumpets. Not sure if it was probably better without, as it made moments more sinister and impactful. Sound design worked well, a few lines missed from some actors but that was down to diction and portrayal I’m sure :-))
Some slo-mo moments and constant off-stage watching the action from cast members when they weren’t on as well. After Blanche’s ‘primitive’’ comments towards Stanley, he enters and takes Stella where the rest of the cast form around the two in ape-like positions to a drumroll. Little bits like that really stood out to me and made it engaging

I’m not sure why it was decided that Blanche doesn’t mention Alan’s homosexuality at all- she catches the two in bed but it’s never specified that he was with another man…that’s why he takes his own life, because he’s ashamed and Blanche’s reaction is what caused him pain. Blanche’s disgust definitely creates that disapproval towards Blanche which is designed to make us question wrong from right and whether or not these characters are ‘deserving’ or ‘good’ etc etc ..streetcar should play on the idea of sympathy! Maybe this production wanted to cast B as more vulnerable ??

just at 4 stars from me, can only hope that this one if filmed so I can rewatch for revision !!lol

[ShoreditchTom]

Saw this on Wednesday night and really enjoyed it - 4 stars from me! I agree a few little bits need to be finessed but I'm sure that will happen, it is previews after all. As someone above mentioned I personally think the ending is slightly over choreographed and it may be more effective to let the plight of the the two sisters and their actual/ self perceived realities hang in the air (perhaps in the New Orleans daylight for once?!)

One off script slightly heart stopping moment was when Paul / Stanley threw a chair which proceeded to bounce off the stage and stopped just short of an audience member in the front row of the "in the round" stalls! I see the incident seems to have got a mention in this weeks Popbitch!

I do agree the minimal and dark/broody/wet staging doesn't really lend itself to a hot and smouldering New Orleans but that and the drumming does make the whole thing more sinister which I guess is what they are going for.

Rounds off a great year of output from the Almeida (I enjoyed Daddy although most didn't!) , the team there should be very proud!