Review: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Theatre Royal, Glasgow

After great success with their production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf earlier this year, Rapture Theatre present the 1947 classic Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire.

Southern Belle Blanche Dubois arrives from the country to her sister Stella's apartment in New Orleans. The sisters has a wealthy upbringing on the family plantation Belle Reve but as details emerge behind Blanche's visit, they've lost everything. Blanche expresses great disdain for the small two room apartment Stella lives in with her husband as she tries to keep up appearances.

It's a gripping story as Blanche meets Stanley, her sister's husband who takes an instant dislike to her, feeling that she has conned them out of money. While they initially present themselves as a happy couple, Stanley's true colours begin to show very quickly.

A Streetcar Named Desire is a fairly long play, coming in at the three hour mark and some scenes feel a little indulgent and drawn out. The staging for the production is quite simplistic, we don't move from the small two bedroom apartment which is very effective in highlighting how the three main characters are living on top of each other.

Gina Issac takes on the role of Blanche and gives a passionate and believable performance which is the highlight of the production. The performance from Joseph Black as Stella's aggressive husband Stanley didn't quite measure up. Scenes that should have been quite hard-hitting didn't have the impact intended as his delivery wasn't particularly convincing.

While it isn't exactly a light hearted way to spend your evening, this production of A Streetcar Named Desire is has its flaws but is definitely worth seeing.

A Streetcar Named Desire runs at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow until Saturday 9th September.

Photo credit: Richard Campbell

To post a comment, you must register and login.