Theater 29’s production of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire had its opening night last Friday in front of a packed house.
In sync with this week’s Mardi Gras, Streetcar’s French Quarter setting was met with further regional specific sensory accompaniment of Cajun gumbo and beignets provided by the 29 Palms Rotary Club, the opening night sponsors. Once the lights dimmed, the Big Easy ambience continued with balcony horn and vocal serenade by Matthew Bennett, principal trumpeter of the Joshua Tree Philharmonic (and dead ringer for Chet Baker), before the ensemble cast gathered to create the rowdy atmosphere of Toulouse Street’s fringe inhabitants.
Originally performed in New Haven, Connecticut before its Broadway run in 1947, Williams’ brutal and brittle story was adapted to screen in 1951 by Elia Kazan, starring Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski, Kim Hunter as Stella Kowalski, and Vivien Leigh as Stella’s wayward sister Blanch DuBois; the latter who imposes into the Kowalski’s already-cramped two room apartment, stirring a dynamic maelstrom of brimming sexuality, alcoholism, and porous suppression until the floodgates succumb to the pressure. Later, DuBois’ source of trauma is revealed, yet to little sympathy––and even more brutality.
Hi desert / Los Angeles performing artist Bobbie Breckenridge plays DuBois, turning her character’s unraveling up to ten, accentuating her myriad excesses to the fullest volume compared to the more nuanced DuBois of the screen. Breckenridge’s unique approach is a propelling strategy that proves a neck-and-neck match with the plate-crashing tantrums of Stanley Kowalski, played by Deacon Ledges with a swaying, weighty physicality. Victoria Shupe, who plays Stella, nails the universal co-dependence of an alcoholic’s partner, toggling between cheery and stark denial before her own end-of-rope eruptions.
Director Gary Daigneault says, “In bringing this iconic play to life, I chose to honor the original work without being socially correct.” As it is, Streetcar tackles extremely difficult topics, but with the mature freedom of the stage, Daigneault’s production reveals far more detail to DuBois’ trauma than the 1951 film’s censors had the guts to offer, and what we learn is hard to digest but respectable in its bravery and truth to form.
Theater 29’s A Streetcar Named Desire runs this Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., Sunday matinee at 2:30 p.m., concluding next weekend on Sunday, March 16th.
