NT LIve A Streetcar Named Desire

Wow .Hot and explosive . Here's my Sydney Arts Guide review http://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/nt-live-young-vic-a-streetcar-named-desire/It is sweltering in this extraordinary powerful, shattering, very intimate performance of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE by Tennessee Williams. Part of the season at the Young Vic in London , it is screened as part of the ‘NT Live’ series and explodes onto the screen . Benedict Andrews has updated the production to now, set in present day New Orleans with jumpy blasts of rock music including Jimi Hendrix and Chris Isaac. The stage for this production is configured as a combination thrust/in the round space so that the theatregoers can intimately view the action and each other. This is also helped by the constant use of the revolve which whilst extremely effective is a little dizzying at times. The ‘fourth wall’ is broken down and we are in Stella and Stanley’s tiny cramped apartment with the crashing screen door, the staircase, the small bathroom and a curtain drawn at times for ineffectual privacy . There is very effective use of close ups and also shots from above, showing the resolve in action. The show’s unsettling focus-as it should be- is on the domestic violence that frames Williams’ play. Ben Foster as Stanley, burly, handsome, with tattoos , smoulders and menaces. Vanessa Kirby as Stella, torn between her husband and sister, is sensational. Gillian Anderson as ex school teacher Blanche du Bois,is sensational, giving a searing , emotionally harrowing performance. Blanche is a faded Southern belle of a large Mississippi abode who has lost her home before the action begins and loses her mind by play’s end. We see her brittle, fragile hold on normal life dissolve and disintegrate. . Anderson shatteringly shows a woman whose options are running out and who is getting ever closer to the end of her tether. Her lies and fantasies of a better life become almost heroic.Her exit at the end is intense and overwhelming, almost unbearable . Corey Johnson as the concerned, warm hearted gentlemanly Mitch delivers a fine performance. An American classic of thwarted dreams and explosive sexuality not to be missed . Running time– just over 3 hours including interval. Allow extra time after to recover! NT LIVE: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE is currently screening at selected cinemas. DRAMATIS PERSONAE:- Blanche du Bois Gillian Anderson Eunice Hubbel Calre Burt Mexican Woman Lachele Carl Steve Branwell Donaghy Young Collector Otto Farrant Stanley Kowalski Ben Foster Doctor Nicholas Gecks Pablo Troy Glasgow Nirse Stephanie Jacob Harold Mitchell ( Mitch ) Corey Johnson Stella Kowalski Vanessa Kirby Woman Claire Prempeh CREATIVES:- Director Benedict Andrws Design Magda Willi Costumes Victoria Behr Lightging John Clark Sound Paul Arditti Music Alex Baranwoski