A Streetcar Named Desire :: Drama

A Streetcar Named 'Desire' " "A Streetcar Named 'Desire'" is one of the most recognised plays in theatrical cinema, lately. I saw it very recently, when the production was held in the prestigious "National Theatre," Central London. There is also the 'classic hit' movie which is based upon the play. It was first written and produced in 1951 and has the same title. During that period, people were not allowed to mention anything involving sexual or racist discrimination, and as this was one of the major laws, some scenes in the movie were adapted, deliberately. The first item on the stage, which abruptly caught my attention, was that it revolved. I was getting excited as I had never seen one of these before, but when the show commenced, it came to my realisation that the four to five different stage settings had a similar atmosphere to each other. It was the kind of surrounding you would find in a loud, disruptive, filthy and rough town. It seemed as if the neighbourhood wasn't quiet and peaceful, because people were sitting on benches, talking freely on the spiral staircase and their lifestyles appeared happy enough in Elysian Fields, a small (possibly fictional) town in the state of New Orleans, U.S.A. Coming to think of it, it reminds me that the fake American accent was exaggerated and easy to recognise - it was imitated very poorly! The first scene began with a famous Hollywood actress - Glenn Close - who plays the leading role of "Blanche Du Bois". She was a young woman who had run-away from her home, "Belle Reve" in Laurel (Mississippi), because her past had degraded her badly in the local community. Blanche decides to visit her younger sister, "Stella Kowalski", (Essie Davis) who lives with her husband, "Stanley Kowalski" (Iain Glen). However, Blanche does not personally know Stanley, but when she does, things begin to go haywire in the ground floor apartment. THIS is where the conflict starts, the reason being that Blanche's history involves prostitution. It has a major link to Stella and Stanley's relationship, and the key theme of sexuality is successfully transmitted in "Streetcar", just as the respected playwright, Tennessee Williams - born on March 26th 1911 - intended to do so. In this play, I thought that the number of characters was restricted, so the audience tended to focus on each actor's personality and behaviour (within their role) more than they would normally. The audience generally consisted of middle-aged and above adults, although there was a minority of youngsters, too. Stella Kowalski is a man who is out of control with his wife and his