A Streetcar Named Desire - Crucible

A Supertram named Meadowhall?

The Dazzle a play that still lingers in the memory,Andrew Scott & David Dawson were great together and Joanna was also excellent, really liked Found111 as a space.

Tempted to pop up to Sheffield for a matinee.

It’s a bit odd to only announce her when they must only be a couple of weeks from starting rehearsals. I get that Blanche is the main character, but still seems unusual this close to opening to make an announcement that doesn’t include the full cast.

Maybe they have had trouble casting it…

Is anyone there for opening tonight? Intrigued to hear how they've approached it, going in two weeks time.

That was well worth a trip across the Pennines for today's matinee. With a 2 hr 44-minute run time (Act 1 90 mins, 20 min interval, Act 2 54 mins), Director Josh Seymour and his team have done a terrific job in bringing this classic play to the Crucible stage by managing to balance some lovely bits of comedy (particularly in Act 1 with the hard-hitting stuff of Blanche's decline and Stanley's abuse. 

Staged on a circular rotating platform means that all sides of the auditorium are catered for in their viewing whilst giving the play an extra level of energy and emotion, particularly in the final scenes of Blanche's mental breakdown. Stella and Stanley's apartment from designer Frankie Bradshaw is split into 3 parts on the stage - bedroom, dining table and bathroom. The use of the circular rotating set was for me was both simplistic yet very effective in helping to create a real claustrophobic feel to the piece.  At the back of the stage is a raised balcony to represent Steve and Eunice's apartment. There is a single piano situated on the balcony. Whilst set in New Orleans with some decent accents from the cast that held up throughout the show with period costumes on show.

As Blanche, Joanna Vanderham commands the stage, mixing both vulnerability and desperation in her performance which by those final scenes with the assault by Stanley and its impact on her is truly heartbreaking to watch. Amara Okereke gives us a different take on Stella with a more assured and steelier portrayal of the character than maybe has been done in previous productions. Vanderham and Okereke as the two sisters worked well together on stage having some on stage chemistry and that sisterly relationship had real heart and emotion to it. Jake Dunn as Stanley gives us a man who one minute can be caring and loving and the next violent and abusive but for me lacked the brutish charisma that Paul Mescal had with his take on the character. Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong as Mitch brings a warmth and tenderness in his role as a possible love interest to Blanche. Despite limited stage time with the role, a lovely believable performance. 

What was a nice addition to this version was making more use of Allan, Blanche's dead husband played by Jack Ofrecio. Great use is made of Jack's vocal talents here as Allan plays a central role in Blache's fantasies as we look into her life before his death. 

With the techy stuff, Howard Harrison's lovely lighting design particularly during Blanche's fantasy scenes help to create extra emotion and there was some great work from sound designer Alexandra Faye Braithwaite and Musical director Lauren Dyer who provided some nice bits of period musical accompaniments in some scenes to add to the emotional on stage.

Having had chance to chew over this one, there is certainly a lot of good stuff to take from this viewing and sadly the issues raised in William's writing even after the 80 odd years since it was first written are still as relevant today as they were back then.

Rating - 4 stars